The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands
by DBROWN13
Summary: As if getting suspended from school wasn't enough, 12-year old Dylan wakes up to find himself in the middle of the Pride Lands. At first it seems like the most greatest thing in the world, but fighting Outlanders and battling the spirit of an evil lion turns that thought around. He soon finds out what he has to do to return home, and he may even learn about himself in the process.
1. Chapter 1

THE LION GUARD: LIFE IN THE PRIDE LANDS

A TLG fanfiction

by DBROWN13

As I sat in the principal's office with tears rolling down my cheeks, I began to wonder if it was all worth it. Aileen had been my crush since the first grade. My whole world was reflected in her eyes and her smile gave meaning to life and always lit everything up. I confessed my true feelings for her in the fourth grade during recess. We were hanging by our arms on the bridge part of the playground where all of the kids played during that time, and sweat was all that my body knew how to process at the time. I was shitting bricks.

"I-I-I-I," was all that was escaping my mouth. "Yes," she asked with a smile across her face in a high squeaky voice. It was like she knew what I was trying to say. "I like you" finally spat out as I panted. What she said next even made my heart skip a beat. "I like you, too."

We were pretty much inseparable ever since. Then came the day that kept me attached to her forever: my first kiss. We were getting out of choir practice when she grabbed me by the sleeve and yanked me over to a part of the gym where nobody would see us. "Can you kiss me?" I gulped. I was completely in love with her so of course I had to. I leaned in close and my lips collided with hers. Her hand started caressing my hair and we closed our eyes. The kiss lasted 7 seconds but it felt like 7 years. We ended the kiss with all of our closest friends that we gave permission to watch gasping and squealing. She gave me a sweet smile and told me bye with one last quick peck on the cheek.

I was only 9 at the time and that's why the kiss had drawn me completely into her. It had felt like she was going to be the one I'd be with forever. Until the sixth grade, where I was currently sitting in an office with my mom and her boyfriend. It started out as a good year. Me and her were eating lunch together and playing games just the two of us. Both of us made a new friend named Sean. He seemed like a nice guy who had similar interests as she did. He started to hang out with us and our friend group a lot. Then on November 3rd, I was having some issues finding Aileen and Sean, so I did some looking around and what I saw almost made me vomit. I saw her and Sean kissing behind a wall where nobody would see them. Similarly to the way she kissed me.

"What the heck is going on here?!" They both jolted their heads at me with surprised expressions on their faces. My eyes were getting a bit teary. "Dylan, this is not what it looks like." "Oh, really. Because it seems like you were giving _OUR _kiss to this bozo. I thought you liked me." "I do." "Well this is not the way you treat someone you like. I thought that we had something really special. Why would you backstab me like this?!" A few tears escaped from my pupils.

Sean walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Well it's not my fault that she finds me more attractive than you." That's when a bonfire lit itself inside of me. I had never felt such rage in my entire life. I then did something that I never thought I would do: I attacked him. I literally attacked him. I took a deep breath, ran over and tackled him to the ground before I started taking multiple swings at him. The little scenario attracted a crowd of chanting kids, some older and some barely in kindergarten. They were yelling _**FIGHT! FIGHT! **_After a few hits, I noticed a little plant growing inches away from where I had him pinned to the ground with blood rushing out of his nose and lips. I kneeled over and ripped off a branch from the little shrub and attempted to impale him with it. That's how much he pissed me off. The chants got the attention from the vice principal, Mr. Perez, who just happened to be in the area at the time of some serious ass-whooping.

"Move! What is going on here!?" He shoved his way through the crowd and saw me with the sharp branch in my hand and an injured kid beneath my knees. I had the drop on him. But before I would successfully stab him with the branch I had ripped from the plant, I felt a tug on my hoodie and was pulled away from him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOUNG MAN!? YOU, IN MY OFFICE, NOW!"

And here we are. Back into the office where my mom has a stern look on her face, while at the same time trying to hold back tears. Mr. Perez was shuffling through some fancy looking documents and signing a couple of papers. "What you did today would've put you in jail. Your terroristic actions against Sean today had me thinking of putting you in juvie. But by what your parents and Aileen told me today, I understand that you were doing it in the name of love. But there are still going to have to be some consequences for this incident. So, you're going to have a three-day suspension and you may return Monday."

"What? No, please! If you can just give me one more chanc-." "You are out of chances, Dylan. You, and your parents, may leave now." I stuttered before my mother whispered for me to let go with one of her salty tears falling onto my scalp. I picked up my backpack and walked out of the building to my mom's car. The drive home was pretty silent, but I should've enjoyed it because as soon as we got home the quietness was broken by my mom's yelling at me. "WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING!" Crap was being handed to me for over an hour and a half before I was given the ultimate punishment: no electronics until my mom said so.

"Just, go to your room. I can't do this anymore." I slumped my way to my bedroom with my head hanging low and multiple tears running down my face. I was in a real tight pickle that I couldn't seem to get myself out of. I was known as a real good kid by parents and friends and teachers up until that fateful day. Slamming the door and more yelling was the least of my worries. I ran and crashed my body onto my queen-sized bed where all of my stuffed animals were laying. I cuddled up near Lotso and Bing Bong while drinking a Chick-Fil-A sweet tea that I had left on my nightstand a few nights before.

That's when an idea popped up in my head. A plan that would solve all of my problems: I would have to run away. It wasn't the most rational plan, but it's all that I had in order to try and have a carefree life. I grabbed my Samsung phone from my nightstand, plugged my headphones into them and threw both of them into a backpack that I had underneath my bed. I then tiptoed my way to the kitchen where my parents had cried themselves to sleep on the couch and packed myself some food that included turkey, bologna, some water bottles, etc. into the bag as well. I was going to start packing clothes, but then noticed that it was past my bedtime. The last bedtime that I would ever have. I put all of my stuff against my nightstand and laid down, looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stickers my mom put up there to help me sleep better when I was little.

"I just wish that I would go somewhere where I wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore." And like that, I was out like a light.

I could already tell it was morning by some of the sun's burning rays shining down onto my closed eyelids, but I didn't want to wake up just yet. It was getting a little nippy, so I reached for my blankets, only to find there was nothing there. They probably fell off the bed's end like they always did sometimes. I tossed over to the side to try and get more comfortable, but something about my mattress seemed odd. It felt like I was laying down on a hard lawn of grass or something. Then I heard the strange sounds of birds chirping. It's a normal thing to hear, but they sounded so close and their chirps are usually muffled by me being inside of a house, curled up in bed. The sunshine was getting stronger and that wasn't quite possible with my curtains only being slightly opened. That's when I heard the slightest sound of two people talking. "Gee, Timon I don't know." "Do you think it's still alive?"

I moaned and slowly opened my eyes. It took some moments for my vision to fix, but when it did, I thought I had to have been dreaming. I actually _was _laying down on a lawn grass. Actually, an entire valley of grass. I jerked my entire upper body up to find that I was in some sort of strange location. I saw a waterfall running into a small pond of water and trees and lots and lots of green life around me. Like bloomed flowers and vines that made it almost look like the jungle. There actually _were _birds chirping and they were swarming all around me. I turned my head and saw that I was in the presence of a meerkat and a warthog standing in front of me. They stared at me for a couple of seconds before they did something ordinary meerkats and warthogs don't do where I came from: they talked.

"What kind of-." I just screamed the moment human words came from an animal's mouth. My scream triggered them to scream and we all kept on screaming for 10 seconds before they came to a stop. "Did you just talk?!" "Well, I certainly wasn't _not _talking, so yes."

"This has to be some sort of nightmare. You shouldn't be talking." "Well, if that isn't the rudest comment I've ever heard. Right, Pumbaa?" Why did that name sound so familiar? "Right." "No, you don't understand. Animals do not talk! They can't. It's impossible."

"Well, it can't be that impossible because I'm doing it right now, aren't I?"

I couldn't believe that I was having a conversation with a freaking meerkat! That is the most abnormal thing I think I've ever said that was actually true. How would all of that be even remotely possible? There has to be some sort of crazy, mystical, totally unbelievable explanation to the fact that I was not at home, but I was in the middle of somewhere talking to an animal. "How is this all even happening?" I stood up. "And where the heck am I?" "You're at Hakuna Matata Falls, silly."

Wait a minute. The name, the fact animals are talking to me, and Hakuna Matata Falls? Oh no. No no no no no. It couldn't be. But it was.

I was in the freaking Pride Lands!


	2. Chapter 2

I couldn't believe it. It was all too good to be true. It was all too _**impossible **_to be true. The Pride Lands were a fictional land created for television and children by Disney in the 90's. Sure it was based on the land surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, but it was still an imaginary place that kids all over the world would enjoy on a movie theater screen. I won an award as the top student in all of my first period history teacher's classes at the end of the year, and that's how I knew that there were no such place where talking lions feuded with talking hyenas who all lived happily in a land where all of nature's creatures live together to respect the balance of the so-called 'Circle of Life'. Yes, I know that I may have had a tad bit more knowledge of this world being an almost teenager, but the movie had me on edge even if it was the thousandth time I've watched it since I was a toddler in my aunt's house. And now I was in it. Having a conversation with two of the movie's most hilarious characters: Timon and Pumbaa.

"You mean, 'Hakuna Matata Falls' in the Pride Lands!?" "Where else would you expect to find it? You must be really new to the area. What even are you," the meerkat asked me while flailing his arms in the air. "Well, my name is Dylan." "I've never heard of Dylans. Does your species live here?" "Um, I'm not a 'Dylan'. That's my name and I'm just a 12-year old boy. And no, my species does not live here. At least I don't think so." "Never heard of those guys either." "Where did you say you come from again," he asked me while slowly pacing around me as if he was observing and studying me. "Well, I lived in California with my friends and family, but now I live in Oklahoma with my mom and her boyfriend." "I don't think that I've ever even _heard of _your kind or your habitat. Have you, Pumbaa?" The warthog shook his head.

"I'm not so sure that I'm native to your colony which is why I'm confused at the fact I'm having a conversation with a meerkat and a pig." Then-and only then-did I see the warthog flare his nose like a bull in the ring of a mexican bull fight. His eyes were all bulged up and I think he was trying to furrow his brows and make an angry expression towards me. "Are you talking to me," the warthog asked in a mean and scary voice. "Actually I'm-." "Are you talking to me!?" I thought back to what would've triggered this side of him when I remembered that I called him a pig. Being a fan of the film, I knew he didn't like being called that. "Kid, you shouldn't have done that," the meerkat, or Timon, whispered in my ear. "They call me-." I stood up and stared him down so he would calm himself. "I know, Pumbaa."

His mad face turned into a surprised face the moment that I said his name. "You know my name!? Timon, how does he know my name!?" "I'm sorry for what I called you. I know that they call you _Mr. _Pig." He had an even more astonished face expression. "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY CALL ME!?" He, and Timon, were pretty freaked out that I practically knew everything about them. I didn't mean to startle them in anyway; I was just stating logic. We all knew that famous title that the warthog gave himself in the final sequence of the film. It was hilarious and that's what made it so memorable.

"There isn't some kind of witch-y or evil kind of way that you knew that, right?" "No. That was just one of the best parts of the movie that I happen to remember." "What's a 'movie'?"

I couldn't believe what he was saying. Not knowing what a movie was like not knowing what a family was. There was no possible way of them not knowing what a movie was. Wait. Unless, animals didn't know what human technology was yet. Maybe it wasn't even invented. Who knows what time period I was in? "Well, a movie is a series of pictures that move and it's presented-." "I'm gonna stop you right there. We don't know what a movie is, we don't know what pictures are, and you seem to know everything about them, which can only mean their other-worldly." "It's not like that." "It is most certainly like that." "Next you're gonna tell us that where you come from animals don't talk." "They don't! I've been trying to-." "SEE! WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!" Both of them ran around in circles screaming their lungs out. "Oh for goodness sake."

They were really starting to get on my nerves. I already told them that and now they're acting like I barely made that statement. "HELP!" That's when something ran at me from a nearby tree. I couldn't see much about what it was, only that it was something doll-sized, something angry, and...something that smelt _extremely_ rancid. It appeared to have jumped from the top of a tree that I was standing in front of. Whatever it was tackled me to the ground where I landed hard on my back, which even blurred my sight and took the breath out of me for a few seconds. My vision came back correctly, and I don't know exactly if I was tripping out or suffering from a concussion, but there was a honey badger mounting me!

"You mess with my uncles, you mess with me," it yelled into my face while using its teeny tiny hands to I think karate chop me. It was probably meant to hurt, but it actually quite tickled a little bit to be honest. "Hey, stop! That tickles!" The honey badger's determined protective face became a disappointed looking face after I said that. It stood up on my chest. "You think messing with us is funny?" "I'm not sure what's going on but-." "See if this is funny." It turned around and bent down, his rear end all up in my face. None of what it was doing made any sense until a tremendous cloud of pure green flatulence was released into my nostrils. In simpler terms, the animal passed gas right into my face! _COUGH! COUGH! COUGH! _"Then take that!" "What was that for!?" That little stunt indicated to me that he was a male. He jumped off of me and went over to Timon and Pumbaa. "Uncle Timon, Uncle Pumbaa, are you guys okay?" "Thanks to you, Bunga." "What happened anyway?" "Well, we were scavenging our lunch when we run into this thing that scared the living daylights out of us by knowing everything there is to know about us."

I stood up in confusion as to what the three mammals were having a conversation over. "Wait a sec, you guys know each other?" "No. They're complete strangers who stole me overnight." "I knew something was up with you two. Why on earth would-." "Take it easy. I was joking. They're my uncles." "Right. Even though there's no possible way you two are related to this one, extreme unnecessary sarcasm seems to run in the family." "This one isn't a joke. We might not be completely related, but I still consider them family. They took me in when I was a baby after something separated me from my real mom and dad," it told me I put my aggression to the side and actually began to feel a little sympathy to the backstory he was telling me about. "So you aren't in any kind of danger with the meerkat and Mr. Pig over there?" "No. And even if I was, the Lion Guard would just save me." The name he told me wasn't familiar with the facts I knew about where I was.

"Lion Guard? Who's that?" They all looked at me in surprise and confusion when that question was asked. "I told you he was new," Timon whispered into the honey badger's ear. "I know, but now I _really _believe it." "The Lion Guard is the group of animals who protect the animals of the Pride Lands and defend the circle of life. The team consists of the Pride Lands' fiercest, bravest, fastest, strongest, and keenest of sight. It used to only be a group of lions, until my best friend Kion changed history and assembled the first Lion Guard that wasn't all lions."

"And who's this Kion guy?" They all just broke into hysterical laughter. Their behavior had me concerned on their mental health sometimes. "Not knowing about the Lion Guard is one thing, but to not know about _Kion _means you must live in another world. But if you're serious, Kion is the leader of our team and the son of the king and queen of the Pride Lands."

"Are you talking about Simba and Nala?" "Yeah. How do you know about the king and queen, but not Kion?" Once my theory was approved, it corrupted my knowledge of the land I was currently in and everything I knew from the film. Once Simba defeated his evil uncle, Scar, he and his best friend, Nala, became rulers over their kingdom, the Pride Lands. But there was never mentions of their cub or a group of animals that helps defend other animals like the Avengers would. And that's when it occurred to me that this wasn't the world I knew. It may have some features that stick to the script, but it wasn't at all an exact replica.

I wasn't only in the Pride Lands, but in an alternate universe and version of it as well.

(At least I think.)


	3. Chapter 3

"No, no, no, this is all wrong. This wasn't part of the movie." "What's a movie?" "That's what I said. I told you there are some things this creature knows about that we don't." I slammed my hand onto my forehead multiple times before speaking again. "Where I come from, your king and queen are part of a movie. And as I was saying before a certain meerkat interrupted, a movie is a series of pictures put together to tell a story mainly to entertain the people who watch it. And in case that doesn't spell it out for you, pictures are a type of...item that exists in the place I live in. And your kingdom was part of a movie I watched forever back home that had you in it," I pointed to Timon, "and you in it," I pointed to Pumbaa, and then I saw the honey badger give me a hopeful and anticipated smile before I didn't point at him and said, "but not you." The honey badger crossed his arms when he was told his two uncles were a part of something from another world and he wasn't.

"And what was it? I never got your name." "Well, I'm Bunga, but right now, you can say my name is 'Offended Bunga'." I could tell that he was a little pissed off about not being a part of the movie, but it's not entirely my fault that he even exists with two of the main characters in the first place. More words were about to escape from my mouth before I smelled something that couldn't be. A smell that wasn't part of the collection of wretched odors coming from Bunga or his uncle Pumbaa. A smell that could only be smelt if I was in the kitchen of my comfortable household. And I was known for having the keenest nose back home, so I know that my senses weren't deceiving me. I knew that what I was smelling was turkey! It couldn't be possible for there to be processed meat in the middle of Africa, but that wouldn't have been the most out-of-the-ordinary thing I'd witnessed since I had been there.

"Why do I smell turkey?" "What's turkey?" "It's a type of meat that I have back home, and _only _back home. I don't know where it's coming from." I closed my eyes and began sniffing through the air to see where the scent was coming from. It was a very faint aroma, but I could tell that it was somewhere in the area. I trusted myself, so I began walking through the grass and past the three animals, and followed the scent. The tingly feeling of flowers could be felt in my ankles as I continued pacing around trying to find where the turkey smell was coming from. I stopped in my tracks when I heard a loud belch from behind me. That's when the smell became stronger. It came from behind me. I shifted my back around and followed the stench of eaten turkey right until it was as strong as ever, which meant I had found the source of where it was coming from. I opened my eyes, and I was face-to-face with Bunga's bulgy black eyes.

Why would the scent of turkey be coming from a random honey badger that I just recently met? Unless… "Bunga, let me ask you, did you have anything weird for lunch today?" His eyes narrowed down to the floor and he was using one of his feet to scratch the ankle of his other. He looked pretty guilty to me! "Talk to me, honey badger! Talk to me!" I startled him enough for him to start spilling the beans on everything he knew. "Well, earlier today, when my uncles were taking forever to bring grubs for lunch, I felt like I was going to starve to death so I went for a little walk to try and find something to snack on when the weirdest thing happened."

I sat down on a nearby rock to get comfortable so he would finish the rest of his story. "What 'weird thing' happened?" "While I found some delicious dung beetles at Ndefu Grove, I looked up and saw something fall from the sky. Being the bravest and all, I wasn't afraid to go and check it out. So I go over and see a weird-looking object that smelled delicious. I grabbed at all sorts of things like this odd container with this weird oval food inside and another weird-shaped container with water inside of it for some reason. The only thing that grabbed my attention was this delectable smelling food wrapped up in something. And yes I did eat it but it was disgusting after a few bites so I just threw it away."

An object falling from the sky that had bizarre items _and _turkey in it? Wait. WAIT! If my suspicions were correct, the little honey badger would only have been referring to one thing: my backpack! I was breathing like I was in space. I thought I would be hyperventilating at one point. "Kid, are you okay?" "The name's Dylan, and no I am NOT okay!" I bent down in front of Bunga with sweat rolling down my back, staining the shirt I was wearing. "Bunga, this is very important! Where is the thing you saw fall out of the sky?" "Why do you want to know?" "JUST SHOW ME!" "Alright. Geez. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the savannah this morning." He gestured for me to follow him and that I did. We walked away from Hakuna Matata Falls, Timon and Pumbaa right behind us, past a herd of grazing elands and gazelles before arriving at a grove of burned and destroyed baobab trees.

"I was here in Mizimu Grove when it happened, so let me just find the tree where it all went down." The situation was bad, but despite the burned trees and grass, the sights my eyes were seeing, not so much. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. And I visited the Eiffel Tower when I was six. The trees were wide-spaced, and were parted to create a wide path between them. You would see a single dirt path that lead right through it. Besides that, I saw turacos flying through the sky and some hyraxes playing in the remains of the fields. The sun was shining ever so brightly and the sky was brilliantly blue with so many species of birds soaring through it.

"Geez, this place is a complete trainwreck. What happened." "It's a long story, kid, but basically all of the Outlanders, the evil animals who don't respect the laws of the land and circle of life, burned this place to the ground during a special event we were having to please Scar." That name sent a quiver right through me and stopped me in my tracks. "Scar, as in the evil lion of the past who murdered his brother to gain control of the kingdom?" Even though it was going to happen eventually, Timon gave me a surprised look. "Yes, the very one." "How is that possible? He died in the battle of Pride Rock."

"Yes, but the Outlanders found a way to bring him back and now he's an evil spirit who appears in flames. We had a long long time of peace with him gone, but he just had to come back."

That got me thinking. "How long was this peacefulness of yours again?" "I don't know. 4 or five years give or take." That explained everything. I wasn't in an alternate dimension of the Pride Lands; I was in it five years after the events of the movie. That's why the king and queen would have a son and there would be an unknown character who is somewhat related to Timon and his warthog friend, Pumbaa.

We continued walking until Bunga stopped us and gave some news.

"Okay, so this is the tree it happened at. I'm almost positive that it's the right one." "Why do you say you're 'almost positive'." "I kind of tend to forget some things most of the time but not in serious situations such as this one." "So, if you're so sure about this, where is my backpack." "What's a backpack?" "The thing that fell out of the sky." "Oh, yeah, that. Let me see. I threw the food somewhere over in those fields. Or was it those fields?"

"Forget about the damn fields and show me where the thing that fell out of the sky is. Please." "Okay, okay."

We continued circling and searching around the same tree for 6 minutes before I heard grass rustling and running footsteps from behind us. I ignored them as some random animals wandering together coincidentally through the Pride Lands but I really shouldn't have because they turned out to be some pretty important animals. "Bunga," a voice shouted from behind. Agitation from not finding my backpack finally got to me and jerked my body around to find a group of different species of animals standing together, gaping and staring at me. There was a golden-furred lion cub with a shiny, red mane tuft on his head, a lemon cheetah cub with dark brown spots and markings covering her entire build, a grey hippo calf with three dark spots on his back, and an egret chick with pure white feathers across the main part of his body.

That's when the backpack just so happened to fall from the tree we spent minutes searching. There would be time to look through it later. I picked it up and threw it over my shoulders like I was getting ready to go to school. "And who are you?"

"We are The Lion Guard."


	4. Chapter 4

**BEFORE WE START, I'D LIKE TO THANK SILVERGATE48 FOR THE BRILLIANT IDEA FOR THIS CHAPTER. GO CHECK HIM OUT**

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. The insecure honey badger actually told me something truthful, other than the location of where my backpack was. There actually _was _a diverse group of animals that refer to themselves as 'The Lion Guard'. I mean I did believe him, but now I _really _believed him. And they could talk too. I still don't know why that surprised me. And he wasn't kidding. The name would've made me think it was a team of lions but if what Bunga told me was correct, than the lion cub standing in the center of the group was Kion, and he was the one who made history as the leader of a Lion Guard that didn't consist of one species. Several minutes went by without a word from anyone. It was starting to creep me out a little and I had a feeling there would be more worse experiences ahead of me.

I couldn't take it anymore. "So, who are you again? I forgot." "The more important question is what are you and where did you come from," the cheetah asked me. Before I had the chance to speak again, Bunga put the words in my mouth. "His name is Human and he's a Dylan from some place far, far away." "Wrong, Bunga. Just let me take it from here." "Okay, if you say so."

"For one, my name is Dylan and I'm a human. It seems like your honey badger friend could be dyslexic in many ways possible." The party of animals looked at each other just as I predicted they would. Wait for it. "We've never heard of you." And there it is. It just didn't make sense that they wouldn't know at least _one _thing about my kind. But alas, just like every other animal I've encountered, they have nada, zip, zero, zilch knowledge on me.

The lion cub walked up to me and closed his eyes then began using his nose to sniff me as if I smelled delicious. Wait! What if I did? Lions are known for being fierce predators. What if he was intending to eat me? If I learned anything from my grandfather's survival camp, it was that if you come across any animal who wants to devour you, the best thing to do is play dead and wait for them to move on and leave. "You don't smell familiar either." I hesitated for a little while but after that I acted like I was having a seizure or I was choking or something like that.

But then the air was filled with an unfamiliar scent that didn't belong to anything that I knew of. I postponed the act and began sniffing the air. I had never done anything like that before. It was like I had been tracking things by scent my whole life, but I hadn't. "Kid, what are you doing?" I had time to be pissed after telling them what my name was after I figured out what was filling my nose. The smell just seemed like something I had smelt before. "I don't know why, but for some reason it smells like...hyenas." They all looked at me as if they didn't believe anything I just said. I was starting to get the feeling that whatever I said was being dismissed by literally anyone that I met there. "That's impossible. We just finished our patrol and we didn't see anything," the cheetah told me.

"And how do you know what hyenas even smell like," the hippo asked me. "I wish I knew, but I just don't. It's as if I had encountered one many times but where I come from, we don't even have hyenas at the zoo." "Wait a tick." The egret flew up in the air and landed back on the ground startled. "Kion, I think this thing might be right." "Why would you say that?" "Because I just saw Cheezi and Chungu sneaking up on a herd of antelope near Lake Matope!"

"Heyvi Kabisa! Lion Guard, let's go; we have to save the herd!" And like that they all just ran off through the grass and soon out of sight, just ditching me in the middle of nowhere. My instinct was telling me to follow them but hyenas can be dangerous, especially if they were part of that Outlander group Timon had told me about, so I just left well enough alone and just sat down on the field. I decided then would be a good time to look through my backpack and see the damage Bunga claimed he had done by throwing most of the provisions away. And he really did a number on them. The only things left in there were a few yogurts, a glass bottle of soda, two pieces of bologna, and my phone.

"Bunga, what did you do," I muttered under my breath. That's when I heard grass rustling from behind me, and the scent just became stronger than it was before. There was something behind me and it didn't sound-or smell-pretty. I slowly stood up and turned around to see I was being stalked by a hyena. He looked just like one of the hyenas in the original film, only a little darker fur-wise and scars all over his face, with a big notch in his left ear. That wasn't good. The best thing to do was remain perfectly still.

"Well, lookie what we got here. I have no clue as to what you are, but trying new food is always a good thing." He _did_ want to eat me! I slowly began to walk backwards slowly. "Take it easy. Let's try and be rational about this, Mr. Hyena."

"Mr. Hyena was my father. The name's Damu." "Right! Okay, Damu, let's just slow down before we do something we regret." "Lunch is something no one'll ever regret! And besides, I haven't eaten in weeks, and I'm just starting to wonder what your flesh tastes like." He was talking like a complete psychopath.

"I'm sure you can find something else to eat. My lion guard friends went to go and help some antelope!" His eyes bulged out like he was shocked when I said the words 'Lion Guard.' "If that's the case, this'll be a real quick meal. And don't worry. This is only going to hurt a lot. Adieu." And then he began to charge at me. I didn't know what else to do but run so I did just that. I ran and ran and ran and then I tripped on a rock. I landed on the ground with my face planting so hard I had grass on my tonsils. I spit dirt out and then was mounted by Damu who was drooling from his sharp and pointy teeth.

I tried to escape, but he was too strong so I elbowed him in the throat which knocked him off of me for a few seconds. I stood back up and punched him in that slobbering face of his before he used his sharp claws to slice into my ankle. I groaned and fell back to the ground in anguish, blood on the hand holding the wound. He piled his way back on top of my lower body with me screaming at the top of my lungs. I struggled to get out but all that got me was Damu taking a bite into my thigh. I shrieked as I saw more blood gushing out. I saw the rock I tripped on so I grabbed it and knocked him in the head with it.

He clearly wouldn't stop attacking until I was dead, so I decided to return the favor. But how? And then I remembered my glass bottle in my backpack. It was the only thing left. I started to crawl my way to my backpack and I almost got it before the hyena grabbed hold of my right ankle. The bag was right in my grasp. I used the other ankle that wasn't being held and kicked him in the mouth. I managed to get to my backpack and get the glass bottle. I used a nearby rock to break it into pieces, one long enough to be the blade of a butcher knife. But Damu used his skull to knock it out of my hand. "Nice try." I had had enough. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and bit him as hard as he bit me. I even tasted a little bit of blood in my mouth.

He winced in pain and his grip on me got lighter. I leaned over and grabbed the shard. He bared his teeth at me and growled. "Now you're really going to get it. I'll eat you piece by piece and you'll never see the light of another day ever again!" He opened his gigantic jaws and tried to bite into my face until the shard impaled him through his shoulder. He groaned and landed on top of me. I didn't want to take any chances. I took the piece of glass out and continuously stabbed him all over his body. I didn't have a choice; he was trying to kill me. I sobbed everytime he was stabbed. I figured he had had enough. I took his body and threw it to the side of me. I could her him gargling blood in his mouth so I just closed my eyes and cried. The pain was eventually endured and my vision was getting blurry again.

And then it became enough for me to pass out.


	5. Chapter 5

There was nothing but black for miles. The vivid memory of the hyena's attack had burned into my memory forever, like a horrific brain tattoo. The dying expression on his face still kept on haunting me. His final breath of life could still be felt on my shoulders, a cold and chilling puff of air that couldn't leave my mind. The pain he gave me with his jaws and the equal amount of suffering I gave back made me feel super uncomfortable. That must've been how Sean had felt when I just straight up attacked him for no reason. I nearly killed him over some stupid girl. Who gave a shit of how much I loved her? I then came to realize, even though I was still unconscious, was that I did wrong by my peers and my parents. I now felt their pain of when I was picked up from school, all the tears being shed. I even felt like crying myself, I just couldn't physically move any of my body parts so I just let go of that idea right away.

"_Is it going to be okay!?"_

There was no response.

"_Rafiki, you have to do something!"_

Still nothing.

"_Let me try some'ting."_

And then something was felt. And by "something", I mean pure shock, horror, and pain. I could feel the bite on my leg getting tighter as if something was being wrapped onto it like gauze. My eyelids slowly began to flutter open and it was all still a blur from when I passed out, and it looked like I was back in my room. "Mom, I had the strangest dream. I woke up and then I met this scrawny little meerkat and plump warthog that could actually talk. And-." But then my vision adjusted to the point that I could see myself in front of a tree. I could see branches and leaves, and that's all I would see before a familiar face popped into my sight: Rafiki the monkey. I was actually in the presence of the wisest animal from the movie. I tried to move my head to see what he was up to, but the more I moved the more it began to hurt. All that I could see was my bleeding leg wrapped up in leaves and vines. "Now, now. You musn't tire yourself. You appeared to have gotten yourself seriously hurt. Just lie back down, and let Rafiki take care of you."

His soothing African voice was almost enough to put me back to sleep, but I wanted answers and you really can't get them if you're unconscious. "Where. Where am I?" "You're at Rafiki's tree." In my head, I was screaming! I really thought I was back home. "You looked pretty bad out there, kid." Wait. I tilted my head to the side and saw Timon and Pumbaa standing there next to me. "Timon? Pumbaa? You guys did this?" The meerkat smirked. "If by 'did this', you mean saved you, then guilty as charged. Big jobs for a 'scrawny little meerkat' and 'plump warthog', don't you think?" I then realized that they must've overheard my little monologue about my supposed "dream". "Oh, yeah. I thought I was back home. Sorry." "Eh, hakuna matata."

"What happened?" "Well, we figured it'd be best for you to try and get to know Bunga's friends, so while you were distracted in conversation, we slipped away to find some grubs. And believe me, we found a log full of 'em. And after we devoured those, this hyena tried to attack us and knowing us, we just ran. We tried to go and have you help us since the Lion Guard was busy, but then we saw a cave nearby to hide in so we did. Timon and me waited until we heard screaming and crying. We come out, and see you and that hyena lying on the ground. And here we are."

That's when a thought came to me. It probably was incorrect, but I still wanted to make sure. "Wait, you guys led him to me? I nearly died." They seemed expressionless to the question and were hesitant at first, before Bunga's voice could be heard coming towards us, along with all his other friends. "Uncle Timon! Uncle Pumbaa! Rafiki! Human!" "For the last freakin' time it's Dylan! D-Y-L-A-N! Dylan! Ow!" They all approached us with concern.

"Hu-. I-I mean _Dylan_, what happened to you?" "You're brilliant uncles here," "That's us", "got me attacked."

"By what?" "Well, apparently they were being chased by a hyena and instead of continuing on after them, he unfortunately found me." "Is this true, Uncles?" "It is." "It almost makes sense, Kion," the egret told the cub. "They could've set up Cheezi and Chungu as a distraction while Janja's clan attacked Timon and Pumbaa." Kion looked around us, probably trying to make sure that the area was secure. "And did you see which way he went?" "What?" "The hyena. Did you see him go back to the Outlands, go after more animals? Anything?" And thus the memory sparked again. It probably wasn't going to leave my mind. "No. He's. He's dead," I sobbed. Some of the tears dripped into my mouth and the others in my hair then off my head into the grass I was laying on. Even though I was weak and sore, I covered my eyes with my hands.

They all gasped at me like I voted for Trump. "How? Was he attacked by something too, or did he drown or something?" "No, it was me. I did it." There was even more gasping, and even Timon fainted. "What!? H-How did you do that," Bunga asked me shakily as if I was going to murder him in his sleep or something. "The bottle. My bottle." "What's a bottle," the hippo asked. I was about to answer before Bunga interrupted me. "Dylan, let me explain. He's not from this world, and he may have a few different things from his world that we don't have," he explained. "For once, he's right. And my bottle broke into very sharp pieces that I used to-to-to." "Kill him," Kion said. I slowly nodded my head. At a leisurely pace, I sat up and looked at all of them in the eyes.

"I didn't want to. Nature's my best friend back home and I want to do whatever I can to protect it. But he had already taken a bite out of me and was about to eat me alive and...I had no choice," I said with a quivering voice. I looked at my arms to see small amounts of petechiae on them and dark, purple bruises along most of my limbs as well. "I get it. We _all _do," the egret said while being perched on the hippo's backside. I sniffled and looked up at them. "You do?" "Of course. Protecting the Pride Lands and defending the Circle of Life is our duty." I then began to snicker a little bit because, you know, they said "doody".

"Anyway," I said while trying to get myself to stand ,"what do we do now?" "What?" "I just can't stay here. I have no idea how I got here or how to get back." Kion looked at the ground, thinking. And then lifted his head back up with an expression that probably meant '_I have an idea, but it might not work_.' "We should probably go and see my dad." "The king, Simba?" And there came that weirded-out look _again_! "Yeah, but how did you know that?" "It's a long story." "One more ting." He handed me my backpack. I put it on my shoulders. And then we were off. "Thanks for your help, Rafiki," I shouted as he and his tree slowly began to fade away. "You are welcome, young one," echoed back in response.

As we continued walking, I observed zebras grazing on a field full of emerald-green grass and antelope leaping just like the original movie said that they did. It almost seemed like they were afraid for their lives, which was a little absurd and then I saw a lioness chasing after them. Bleak thoughts soon swarmed my mind about what would happen next but I had to clear my thoughts to make room for some more because when we reached the top of a hill, I could see Pride Rock from the opening scene just a hop, skip and a jump away. I gulped, and I would tell that everyone around me would see my anxiousness.

We made our way down the hill and the rock kept on getting bigger and bigger with every step we took towards it. Finally, we made it to what looked like some sort of bridge leading to the top of Pride Rock where Rafiki held the king up in the opening sequence to the original film. We walked to the top where I saw a whole group of lions, with one male, sitting there as if they were expecting us. And then a bird landed on top of the shoulder of the male one who vaguely resembled Zazu from the film. Because he was. I don't think any of them noticed me yet because they all still looked as if everything was normal. Kion was the only one who ascended to the pride of carnivores at the top of the rock. And then he began a conversation with the male and a lioness.

"Mom, Dad?" "Yes? What is it, son?" Those two must've been Simba and Nala, the king and queen of the Pride Lands! They were literally in the flesh. Just hope not devouring mine.

"This is going to sound odd, but there's a creature here who I didn't know existed, and he needs help." "Maybe you just haven't seen it yet. Do you know what it's called?" "He said he was a 'human'." Simba's eyebrow raised. "No, you're right. We haven't heard of them." Kion turned his head at me and gesture for me to come up to them. I gulped and slowly put one foot in front of the other. When I got there, I slowly waved at them and said hi. That's when Simba's eyes widened, his teeth bared and snarling escaping from behind his razor-sharp fangs. "IT'S A WATU! EVERYONE, GET BEHIND ME!" I stuttered and shook my body as if I was having a seizure because I had no idea what the hell he was talking about.

"W-w-w-what the fuck is a 'Watu'," I shrieked. "You may have fooled everyone else in the past, but there is no way I'm gonna let you hurt my family," he said as he started circling around the pride. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Simba!"

He froze in his tracks.

"I-I-I-I mean 'Your Majesty'," I said getting down on one knee and bowed before him, hoping it would help make him no longer want to eat him. His tone calmed down. "How do you know my name?" I calmed myself down as well. "Everyone back home knows who you are." "Also, he knows a lot about us that he shouldn't." "So, is he like an evil witch or something?" I walked over to the nearest boulder and repeatedly banged my head against it. "Why does everybody I meet keep asking me that!?" They all just stared at me.

Kion broke the silence. "Anyway, we have no idea where he came from, how he got here, or how to get him back where he came from." "And, why should we trust a Watu?" "Dad, what even is a Watu?" That's when we had a surprise jumpscare by Rafiki, the monkey from earlier, butt into the conversation with a wooden staff in his right hand. "A Watu is a sacred being from the Pride Lands' past." "Ok, I think the attack by that hyena is obviously making me hallucinate, so I think I need to go and do some thinking," I said trying to walk away before Simba verbally stopped me. He ran up to me, bent down and examined the birthmark shaped like cheetah spots on my leg. He rose back up.

"Where did you get this?" "Uh, I was born with it. The doctors couldn't explain it either. No one knows what it is actually." Everyone's eyes, but the Guard, widened. "Come with me." "O-okay." Me, the King, Rafiki, and the Guard left the top of Pride Rock to the back of it where there was a huge rock covering what looked like a hole. "Dad, what is this?" "Lion Guard, you have been told all of the Pride Lands' stories, but one. Beshte, would you move this rock?" The hippo, whose name was apparently Beshte, said, "Sure thing, Your Majesty." He trampled his way to the rock and pushed it while yelling something like, "_Twende Kiboko!_" The boulder was then pushed aside to reveal a secret cave. We all went inside where we were surrounded by darkness.

I reached into my bag and grabbed my phone then turned on the flashlight, which startled a couple of animals near me. "How can you make light in your hand," the egret, whose name was Ono, yelled. "I'll explain later." Rafiki then lifted his stick in the air which then caused sunlight to pour into the cave to reveal the walls covered with what looked like paintings.

Was _he _a witch?!

I saw cute little paintings of birds and what looked like buffalo, but what really caught my eye was an image of a human! It looked like one of the cave paintings in the movie _Ice Age_. And then there were more rock illustrations with humans and animals together looking like the best of friends. And then Simba told the story. "Long ago, when the Pride Lands first came to be, animals existed alongside a species known as Watu. It was a rather odd situation, but the two races got along rather quickly." During the telling of the story, Rafiki's stick touched the paintings and it magically made them come to life! He _had_ to have been a witch of some sort.

The first painting came alive as a baby giraffe being tended to by a human, and then the next was a human riding on top of a rhinoceros. They came to life as the story was being told, so it was like a little movie. "Their relationship flourished for eons and eons to come. They always cared for one another, and always came to the rescue if one of them was in trouble. Until that fateful day." I looked up at the painting showing a human with a spear in its hand! "No one really knew what had happened. But a darkness was cast across the savannah that consumed the Watu, and turned them into murderous creatures with a grudge against animals."

Bunga's jaw dropped to the floor, along with Ono's.

"Every Watu began hunting down every animal in sight, even causing some species to become extinct in the process. It seemed like the end of the Circle of Life until a miracle happened. Seeing as how the two weren't going to get along anymore, the Great Lions of the Past used their power to banish all of the Watu out of the Pride Lands and placed a powerful charm on the area that made this part of Africa invisible to any remaining Watu that still wanted to cause any more damage."

So, humans were around the kingdom a long, long time ago, but then they became poachers and this place is invisible and off the maps because of magic?! It was a lot to process.

"And it's been that way ever since."


	6. Chapter 6

**Just before we start today's chapter, I'd just like to apologize for the hiatus on the chapters. I've just been suffering from an extreme case of excruciating writer's block and going back to school, but I promise I'll try and keep posting new chapters as weekly as possible. Also, I'd like to inform you in advance of the help SilverGate48 has had on this story. He's helped me come up with new plots when I was lost and he also helped me with new characters and locations, and stuff like that. So whenever you think you've found something great in the plot, he most likely thought of it. I'm just trying to say that he's a great friend when it comes to writing, and you should really go and check him out, even though he has no content.**

What the shit was I just told? Humans actually existed _during _the original movie's timeline?! Well, not exactly the timeline, more like their past, but still! I had no knowledge of this story nor the negative impact they had on the Pride Lands' society. I always knew there were poachers somewhere in history, but I didn't think they had the guts to go after a Disney kingdom. Hell, I didn't even know a Disney kingdom existed until that day.

As the story concluded, I could see everyone was utterly speechless and disturbed at what they just saw. The King really had a knack for brutal storytelling, which seemed like it would be a good thing if you're Stephen King, but to us it was really horrific. It seemed like no one had any idea that the cave was even there all that time because their expressions seemed as shocked as mine was. "Dad, why didn't you ever tell us about this place," Kion asked his father in disbelief at what he was told.

"After the Watu were banished from the Pride Lands, Yohance, the current king, decided that it'd be best if everyone were to forget about them. So, he had this cave hidden and eventually, all the animals had forgotten about the Watu and the destruction that they caused. For years and years, on the day the future king or queen turned 2 years old, the current king would show them this cave and tell them the story, and the tradition kept on going forever. My father even brought me here once, and the tradition continues on the day Kiara turns 2."

"_Heyvi Kabisa_," Kion whispered under his breath.

And that's when a thought hit me like lightning. "Hold on. If this place is sacred to the royal family, then why are you showing it to _me_ and _right now_?" I could tell that Simba felt a little uneasy when I asked him that question. "Rafiki," he then suddenly said to the strange monkey. He gestured for us to follow him, and that we did. The tunnel went even longer, like it was almost never ending. More sunlight came pouring in from a crack in the ceiling, brighter than the sun itself. Excruciatingly hot as if we were on fire. And there were even more paintings.

"With all do respect Your Majesty, enough with all the secrecy stuff. Where are we now," I asked him. "Kion used those exact words a couple seasons ago. When I first told him about the Lion Guard." When the light settled in, there were paintings of what looked like lions. "What I'm about to tell you is something only me and Nala know about. You must swear, and I mean _swear_ that you won't say a word about what you hear." I crossed my heart with my right hand. "Cross my heart and hope to die, and stick a needle in my eye," I chanted like I was still a Cub Scout from 4 years ago.

Silence.

"You're weird," he eventually blurted out loud as he began to tell the story. "But you know who else was weird? Kopa." Nobody knew what or who he was talking about. "Your Majesty, who's Kopa," the cheetah, Fuli, asked him. He sighed and then told her, "My firstborn son." Everyone gasped like they were just shown porn or something for the first time.

"I thought Kiara was your firstborn." "She was my firstborn _daughter_, but long before her, I had a son. His name was Kopa." "Was?" Rafiki's staff touched one of the paintings that showed him at the top of Pride Rock holding up a cub, who we later figured out was Kopa, in the air similar to the way he did Simba in the original movie's opening sequence. "After Scar was defeated, me and the queen, Nala, gave life to a beautiful baby boy who we named Kopa. He was the best thing that ever happened to us. He always made us smile, and brought joy to the kingdom even on its darkest day. He was beloved by all." Next, a painting with Kopa chasing after a butterfly came to life.

"Until one day, me and him had a huge argument after I found out he almost went over the border of the Pride Lands. I'd never been so upset with him before. He was even more mad than I was because he told me he hated me and he wished I wasn't his father before running off to take some time on his own. And he never returned," Simba explained with a tear running down his cheek.

I didn't even know lions were capable of crying.

Kion went over and compassionately nuzzled his father. He cleared his throat and wiped his cheek with his paw. I didn't know lions could do that either! What's next, they can dress in drag and do the hula?! I walked over to him as well and gently stroked his mane just enough to where I could jump back in case he didn't like it and tried to eat me or something. "I am so sorry for your loss, Your Majesty." "For the longest time, we've thought he was dead. Until today." Ono asked, "What made you realize that?" He turned his body towards me. "Him." I hesitated and began stuttering. "M-m-m-m-e? How could _I _have anything to do with this?" "You see, when I first laid my sights on you I was going to tear you to pieces to protect my family and my pride." "You made that real clear earlier."

"But then I noticed the strange markings on one of your legs." "That'd be my birthmark." "But see for yourself. Kion, come over here." He did as he was told and walked over next to me. He smelled of dirt, blood, and a puppy's fur. "Hold out one of your legs, son." He held out his right hind leg to reveal the exact same pattern my birthmark had!

"W-w-w-w-what?" "You see, when cubs are born, they get these spots on their limbs that disappear as they get older." But that didn't make any sense in my case. "Then this has to be one really, immensely, and gigantically big coincidence. Hu-, or Watu, get strange markings sometimes when they're born, but it's all perfectly natural." Simba walked away from me and Kion. "But then I got to thinking, maybe Kopa didn't die all that time ago. Maybe he somehow survived, made it past the Pride Lands' border, got transported to the Watu's world, grew up, mated with a female, and had…..you."

My mind all of a sudden went blank. _He _was suspecting _me _to be the son of his supposed long-lost son. That was the most redonkulous accusation I'd ever heard. I just burst out into hysterical laughter. I could even feel a tear or two leaking from my eyes by how much I was laughing. "No offense, Your Majesty, but-." And then Simba interrupted. "Hopefully you can call me 'Grandpa', but for now you can just call me Simba." "Okay, well, _Simba_, as I was saying, no offense, but my dad can't be who you think he is. According to my mother, he was a Navy soldier who one day left for work but never returned, leaving her to raise me by herself for the last 9 years."

"So, you never physically met him." "Well, no, but that doesn't mean anything other than he was a father who loved and cared for me until that day." "Dylan, look at the facts: you have the markings of a lion cub, you never really knew your father, and you got past the border," Simba told me. Bunga also added, "And you had the ability to track hyenas and that weird food you brought with you." I wasn't really paying attention to what the honey badger added, but what the king brought up 5 seconds before.

"What do you mean 'had the ability to get past the border'?" "You see, only the royal family has the ability to leave the Pride Lands and get through the border successfully from the _inside_, but the Watu shouldn't have the same kind of power. This part of Africa's invisible to them. Remember?" Oh yeah. He did say that in his story. "But, if my theory is correct, the royal family also possesses the ability to get past the border from the _outside _as well."

#Mindblown.

"Follow me." Did I really have much of a choice anymore? No. I needed answers! We continued walking until we stopped at a blank wall. "Simba, what are we doing? This is just a wall with nothing on it." And then that monkey who really liked getting up into everybody's business answered that question for me. "You see, if you touch de wall, da whole cave will light up wif paintings so bright, you would see anyting. But, only a member of de royal family has dat sort of power. So, to prove Simba right, place your hand on the center of de wall." It was a long shot. I did a double take at the Lion Guard who all gave me looks of suspense and anticipation. I took a deep breath and placed my palm at the center of the wall as Rafiki instructed, and what happened next scared the crap out of me. The touch of my palm left a handprint in the center of the wall that started to glow bright tea, and then magic swirls of some kind emerged from it spreading all across the walls of the cave we were all in, making all the paintings come to life simultaneously and also made them glow bright enough to light up the whole tunnel just like Simba and the monkey said would happen.

Kio, Ono, Fuli, Beshte, and Bunga all gaped at the sight while Rafiki and Simba stared at me with a smirk across their faces. And then Simba walked up to me with an even bigger smirk on his face.

"Grandpa it is then."


	7. Chapter 7

**Go check out my and SilverGate48's discord to check up with us: yJRypZ is our server.**

_**Can you feel my love tonight? The peace the evening brings. The world for once in perfect harmony. With all its living things. **_Those were the only words that I remembered from my dad. According to my mom, it was a song he sang to me every night before bed. I absolutely loved it and wouldn't let him sing anything else. He'd cradle me in his arms and start singing until there was absolute silence in our house. I was too young to remember him, but I always knew the little things. Like how he always smelled like cherries (weird for a grown man I know) and how I loved playing with his beard. He'd always held me and play with me every single day until he was tuckered out as much as I was.

As I got older, the only thing that really stuck with me was that damn lullaby. Sure, I always knew most about him at times, but when I least expect it when asked about my father, the only thing I can recall was that song. And when I was 3, my mom said that Dad was going to go to his job, which was unknown to me, and never returned. I couldn't understand the situation as a toddler, but all I knew at the time was how much I missed him and his beard and most especially, his lullaby. I always thought there was some sort of specialness to it. When I was about 7, my mom introduced me to Disney movies. I was completely transfixed at all the nostalgia and creativity put into the films.

I was hooked on _The Little Mermaid_ and _Sleeping Beauty_. All were princess movies, and I was absolutely tormented day by day at school for my love of beautiful women like Ariel and Aurora. But, I came to learn that other people's opinions didn't matter and continued exploring more movies. And that was when I found another great non-princess Disney film: _The Lion King_. What hooked me was the memorabilia that it gave off and the bone-chilling story behind the movie along with the music. Ironic as it is, I was terrified every time my parents tried to put it on.

That one scene where Zazu is blasted out of the sky by that lava or birdy boiler thingamabob in the Elephant Graveyard always haunted me and gave me nightmares for some strange reason. But I overcame that fear quickly and after that, I couldn't stop watching it! On my 11th birthday, I received a DVD edition of the movie and immediately put it in our DVR. But, being an adolescent and all, one in particular scene caught my eye: the love sequence between Simba and Nala.

At first, it was a great song with Timon and Pumbaa acting all sad and kooky and everything, but when it got to the chorus, I recognized it almost immediately as the lullaby my father sang to me as a child.

Turns out, he totally ripped it off from the movie, altered it, and made it his own personal song just for me. Mom always told me he loved that movie and how he always said he would 'take her there" someday. And since _he_ loved the movie, _I _loved it as well. Me and my mom never really understood what Dad meant when he said he would "take her there someday" every time they watched _The Lion King_, but standing in the middle of a cave finding out I'm the grandchild of one of the main characters finally opened my eyes to the truth.

If my father is who Simba claims him to be than he was planning on taking my mom here to the Pride Lands because he was Kopa, son of Simba.

I was still standing there, gaping at Kion and his friends. Or more like _with_ as I was just as equally shocked. I had so many questions after. "How is this even possible?" "That question got me beat just as much as you. Even though you're part of the royal family, why would you want to come here, and how did you get to the exact border between us and your world?" "I'm not sure! If we're in Africa, I'm live over 1,000 miles away from here. I seriously doubt that I was at the _exact _spot you're referring to, Grandpa."

What did I just say? WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?

I looked back to see The Lion Guard all with surprised looks on their faces. "Uh, what'd you call him," Fuli asked with a smirk on her face in a high squeaky voice.

"I-I-I-I. I said 'Grandpa', but lots of things are grandpas. Like this rock." I shimmied over and pointed at a random rock. "Or that bug." I pointed at a crawling caterpillar on the ground until Bunga straight up grabbed and devoured it.

Seeing him eat made me realize how much skipping breakfast can have on you. I was also hungry.

"Or this gazelle carcass," I said pointing at what used to be a gazelle, with some skin ripped off, and some organs missing, his skull and skeletal system exposed. Wait.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!_

Birds flew out of the trees in disturbance by what they just heard.

I straight up ran out of that cave, tripping on a rock similar to the one I tripped on while being attacked by that hyena. It might've even been the same rock. I then began to hyperventilate. I completely forgot that lions are carnivorous predators, and I'm the perfect prey target. How could I not remember when I was standing next to a _bunch _of predators!? "Dylan, what happened! Are you okay," Beshte asked running up to me, along with everybody else. I stood back up, brushing myself of the dirt and grass and what I hoped was a pile of chocolate pudding. Nope. "What makes you think I'm not ok? I'm trapped in a crazy place that shouldn't exist, I'm surrounded by predators, and I'm pretty sure I just fell into a pile of shit," I told him sarcastically. His eyebrow raised up in confusion. "So, you're good?" "Ugh. Seriously, this whole time I've been here I haven't even met a single smart and civilized animal!" "What about me," Bunga asked. "You. You may be the most single-handedly retarded thing I've ever encountered!" For some strange reason, he looked happy about what I called him. Back home, that'd get you punched and beat up.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I just started groaning. "Enough about the retarded mongoose! Back to what I was saying, I need answers. How did I get here? _Why _did I come here? If this place really does exist, then shouldn't there be some sort of explanation at least?" Rafiki stepped up to me. "If you really do live dat far away, de only other way possible for you to come here is if you were summoned. Summoned by de great Lions of the Past."

"But why would these lions bring me here? If they could see me before bringing me here, they should've seen I was perfectly happy back where I was!" The mandrill covered my mouth with the hand not holding his stick. "You did not let me finish. De Great Lions of the Past do not just summon anybody outside of the Pride Lands just because _they _want to. It's because the one they summon wants to. And it can't just be like 'I'd like to come to the Pride Lands.' No. They have to wish for it. Really wish for it. Really, really wish for it. And if de great Lions see good in dat wish, de grant it and bring dem here." I was confused. "But I didn't wish to be here. I just-," I began to say before I recalled a certain memory. A memory from the night before I came here as I was going to bed, prepared to run away the next morning. I remembered just before my eyes closed, I had wished to go to a carefree place with no worries whatsoever. I gasped. "Wait. I do remember wishing for something. But I didn't wish to come here specifically. I wished to go to a carefree place with no worries." And that's when we heard voices coming towards us. They were singing lyrics to a familiar song.

"_It means no worries for the rest of your days. It's our problem-free philosophy. Hakuna Matata!" _The voices belonged to Timon and Pumbaa as they walked/skipped by us, not even knowing that we were there. Where did those two go earlier and come from anyway? There was no time to wonder. But those lyrics fitted the wish description 99%. That's why my supposed "wish" was granted and I ended up here.

"I never meant to wish myself here. Why would I want to leave my cozy home in Oklahoma and come to this pile of crap?! Curse you, Great Lions of the Past! CURSE YOU," I screamed so loudly and hardly into the sky my head began to start throbbing. I looked back at everyone else and they all had mixed expressions on their faces. Some seemed shocked, while others seemed somewhat terrified.

"Dylan, calm down." "Don't you tell me to calm down, egghead," I yelled at the egret. Fuli and Bunga jumped in front of me to defend him. "Hey, don't call Ono an egghead," she growled at me. "Yeah! His head looks more like a hippo bottom," Bunga yelled back, kinda making me chuckle at his weak comeback. "Uh, thanks Bunga," Ono sarcastically said to the honey badger.

I finally got a grip on myself. "I'm sorry. I'm hot, tired, hungry, and covered with crap. This whole trip isn't going well for me." They then all turned sympathetic towards me. "Well, how about we get you cleaned up and get you fed and then we can discuss this dilemma," Simba told me calmly. "That is the best idea I've heard all day."


	8. Chapter 8

My feet were killing me. African grounds sure didn't make you feel that comfortable. How long could it take for a lion to walk a little boy to get a little drink of water? That's a sentence I'd never thought I'd say.

Now that I know the origin of my father and my whole other family all together, I had to come up with some sort of plan in order to fix everything and get myself back home where my mother was probably worried sick about me. Just thinking about the wails I'd be hearing and the tears streaming down her face turning into immense rivers of salty water made me uneasy because being away from her made me realize how much I missed and loved her. All the times we played and all the times we had fought were the only things my mind allowed me to think about at the time. It was just too much to think about. Simba, or should I say "Grandpa" soon broke my bumpy, emotional trip down memory lane.

"Ok, we're here," he said, the two of us arriving at a huge body of water with a couple of other huge animals such as elephants and zebras around it. "What do you mean 'we're here?' You were supposed to take me to get a drink." "And I did. This is where everyone in the Pride Lands comes for a drink of water." "What? You expect me to put this filthy water in my mouth?" "Well, yes. This probably isn't the way you do it in your world, but here you do it properly and the way everyone else around you does. Are you thirsty or not?"

I groaned. "Fine. Let me just find my water bottle." I bent down and took off my backpack, zipping it open to try and find the water bottle that I packed the night before. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa what are you doing?" "I'm just trying to find my water bottle. Is there a problem with that?" "Dylan, do it _properly_. I already told you this."

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w. You want me to drink it with my tongue?! That is disgusting and so unhygienic and unnatural." "Well, it is the proper way. So are you gonna take it or not?" He had to have been kidding me. I may have failed health class in elementary school, but I knew perfectly that strange water or wild water sources, such as ponds or lakes, that you find in the middle of nowhere should not be consumed unless that person wants to be poisoned or they're just too stupid to know the difference between clean and dirty water.

I was not going to, I was not going to, I was not going to, I was not going to…..

And I did.

I bent down on my knees and put my backpack down near me and placed my mouth near the water's edge, my reflection revealing how dirty I had become throughout my journey and hesitantly chucked at the water with my tongue. Dogs and lions made drinking it this way so much easier than it actually was. At first, it seemed horrendous, but with a few more licks, I got used to drinking that way. "See, nothing bad about it. Now, we have to get you cleaned up. Follow me," Simba said as he was walking away from the watering hole. "Well, can't I just wash off in the watering hole? How do you plan on getting me clean anyways?"

"The proper way," he said. Oh no.

He did not mean to tell me his plan was to have me licked back to cleanliness.

Oh hell no.

As soon as I had the chance, I bolted out of there. To most people, "the proper way" of bathing seemed like a dream to most lonely and desperate people such as myself, but there was no way I was drinking from a water hole with my tongue and having several animal mouths all over my body on the same day. I hid behind a bush as I heard him continuously calling my name. "Dylan. Dylan!"

When his voice faded away from my location, I got up from behind my hiding spot and brushed off the leaves and dust I picked up from being behind a leafy shrub of nature.

"Hello."

I flinched and jerked behind me where a male, raspy adult-like voice was coming from. "Who's there?" "Don't feel threatened by me, little one. I come in pea-ssssssss-e. It seems like you could use some help." "Show yourself! Who are you?" "I'm just someone who wants to help a lonely, defenseless Watu out in the wild." And with that phrase, a red cobra of adequate size with a creamy-tan underside and narrow purple markings came into sight from a bush or two away from the one I was standing near. "Greetings. Name's Ushari. And you are?" "Oh, I-I-I-I. I'm Dylan." "Dylan. That's a very nice name. I like it." "Thanks. Um, can I help you?" "The question you should be asking yourself, Dylan, is can _I _help _you._" "Well, I'm trying to get clean, but my grandfather seems to not understand that I don't take baths by letting lions lick me." "And who would your grandfather happen to be?" "Why would I tell you? I don't even know you that well?" "But _I _know _you _very well."

There was no way a strange snake knew even the tiniest detail about me. I just arrived in the Pride Lands. "Pht. No, you don't." "We're much closer than you think, Dylan. I know that you're a Watu from beyond the border who hangs around with the Lion Guard." My eyes bulged open wider than Joey's eyes when he finally figured out Ross was the father of Rachel's baby. "How do you know all that?" "For one, you match the description from the legend of the Watu, and I'm friends with the Lion Guard. We go _way _back. Especially that Kion and that Bunga. They caught me up on everything a few minutes ago when I ran into them. Or more like _they _ran into _me_," he said with an obviously forced smile. He then chuckled a little bit like something funny was happening right then and now, but there wasn't. "The point is, your grandfather's identity could bring you into power and wealth beyond your wildest dreams. If you just tell me who he is, I might be able to confirm the prophecy and lead you straight to the riches."

Wealth? Power? I still didn't know if I could trust him.

"All of that sounds great, but those things don't matter to me right now. I just want to be able to find a way back home." "What if I told you I would send you back home?" "Really? I'm not 18 yet so you shouldn't be fucking me like this. You really can do that?!" "Of course. It just takes one little name to get you there." "Oh right right right. Um."

I pinched my eyes shut tight.

"His name is Simba."

"Just as I suspected. You really do have your grandfather's eyes. Just, you know, more Watu-non-lion-like. Now, since the prophecy is true, and your grandfather is the King, you can follow me and I will send you straight back home." A smile spread across my face. I don't remember being this happy since that running-into Beyonce at the cafe in LA. "This is great news. Let me go and tell my grandfather and the Lion Guard." "NO!" I jumped back a little bit. "No. This is just for you and me. They can't know about it." "Ok, now I'm getting some red flags, Ushari. Maybe I should just go." "No. I just meant the prophecy is sacred and even the royal family doesn't even know about it. Besides, it's not like they're going to miss you. Do you want to go home?" "Mmmmmmmmmm… Fine. Lead on." "Ex-ssssssssss-cellent. Follow me."

He lead me away from the bush patch we were at and out of that little forest area too. He brought me past some antelope, some crocodiles, another watering hole that was probably a lake, past a rhino with a bird on his tusk, past the Pride Land's border….. Wait.

We then soon arrived at the entrance to land with a stony network of canyons, gorges, and caverns, skeletons of other unfortunate animals seen skewered across the dirt, and a massive dormant volcano in the center of everything. The color tone was also rather dark and bleak for a place where magical transportation can happen.

"Ushari, we're very far from the Pride Lands. Where are we?" "This is where we will send you home?" I stopped in my tracks. "We?"

"Why yes. Haven't you already met Janja and his clan?"

There was somewhat maniacal snickering from behind me, and when I turned around I saw three hyenas, one with his tongue sticking out of his mouth, one with crossed eyes, and one who looked very determined and evil with a dominant stance and facial expression. I shrieked. "Hello," the more non-stupid looking hyena said walking up to me slowly. "Um, hi. How long have you guys been standing there?" "We was here the whole time. You just never saw us." "Ok. That's a little odd, and a tad bit concerning and ominous."

"Janja, who's the weird-looking hairless baboon," the hyena whose tongue stuck out of his mouth asked the dominant male leader whose name was Janja apparently. "I take extreme offense to that comparison." "That's a good thing right, Cheezi?" "Not sure, Chungu." "Stuff it, furbrains." "I love it when he calls us that."

"We's going to help the delectable appetizer send you back where you belong." "'The more the merrier', as my mother would say." "Now that we're all acquainted, let's get a move on. We haven't much time left. We must complete the ritual to get Dylan back home before sunset." "What happens at sunset?" "The magic we need will be gone for the next 100 years." "Oh, that's not good; then let's pick up the pace." "Gladly." We continued on until we reached a stone trail leading up into the volcano. It was really creepy even thinking about going in there, but I had to get back to my mom and tell her I love her and how much she means to me. "Right up this slope, and we're there," Ushari told me. The five of us scurried up the trail and I then saw an ocean of lava and noticed we were in some kind of cave with a caldera.

Ushari slithered about near a ledge that hung over the pit of lava. "Almost there."

I took two steps.

"Closer."

I took two more steps.

"So close."

I took one final step before Ushari stuck his head in the air and shouted, "Now!" And that's when a pack of jackals and a float of crocodiles accompanied by a flock of vultures emerged from the shadows and tackled me to the ground, my cheek scraping against the rock-hard surface and blood escaping from it. "USHARI, WHAT IS THIS!?" "It's clearly a trap, you obtuse child. Janja, you know what to do." So, the snake lied to me? He wasn't going to help me get back home? He never had any good intentions? That just straight up pissed me off and cut real deep. And then Janja bit into the scruff of my shirt and dragged me along the ledge where ushari sat at the tippy-top. I tried to escape, but his bite was way too firm and hard.

He dragged me and dragged me until he released my shirt collar and I was dropped in front of Ushari. "Don't even think about fighting back, Dylan, or else you'll meet your fiery fate," he hissed into my face. I got up and kind of growled at the villainous reptile before the ground began to rumble. It was like a massive earthquake was occurring, but the weather wasn't quite right for those conditions to happen yet. I know nerd alert, but that's beside the point.

Janja was cackling in the background saying that I was in for a real treat. I really didn't understand what he meant until something erupted from the lava pit I was standing under. And from the magma rose something strange. Something supernatural. Something evil. Something like a giant head made of fire. It belonged to a familiar face that I soon almost immediately recognized as the main antagonist from the original film. It only got creepier when it began to talk to me.

"Hello, young one." "A-a-a-a-a-a-are you-?"

"Yes. I. Am. SCAR!"


	9. Chapter 9

"_Long live the King!_"

Those words echoed throughout my mind as I digested what exactly what was happening to me: I was in the midst of one of the evilest yet beloved Disney villains of all time. The one, the only, the murderous...Scar.

"You needn't fear us, young one. We are all welcome in the Outlands," the malicious feline made of fire spoke directly to me. I was shaking in my skin. A giant, lion's head made of fire? I'm not even sure even believe it if I was talking to myself from another dimension! That was the most impossible, supernatural, and-and-and-. I couldn't even find more words to describe that moment, and the diabolic maniac sharing his presence with me.

"Now, don't be rude, Dylan. S-s-s-s-s-s-s-say hello." "Fuck you, you stupid python! I trusted you, and you lead me into a trap with one of the most villainous baddies in the whole world," I yelled into Ushari's face. "Nice to know you already know who I am. But soon, I will be _the _most 'villainous baddie' as you put it in the whole world," Scar said with a flamey smirk across his face. "You Watu really do believe everything you hear. That's probably why you're all extinct." "Hold up, if you thi- I mean _know _my kind are extinct, then why did you bring me here?" "It's all part of the boss's plan. It will all become crystal clear very very soon," Ushari said in a slithering manner as I just trembled with fear, anxiousness, and annoyance.

**From The Lion Guard's POV**

As the Lion Guard continued their daily patrol, Ono swooped down on them from the cloudy sky with an emergency. "Everyone, everyone!" "What is it, Ono?" "I've spotted an eland calf near Poromoko Crevasse, and he's hanging from one of the cliffs. If we don't act now, there could be some serious trouble." "_Heyvi Kabisa_. Thanks, Ono," Kion said with a look of determination and concern on his face. "Affirmative," Ono said saluting with his left-wing as if he were an army soldier. "Lion Guard, let's go. We have to get to the eland as fast as we-."

Fuli just started smirking.

And then she just took off as fast as a cheetah would. Wait.

"-Can," Kion finished with an annoyed facial expression. "Guess we better follow her. Or at least try. 'Till the Pride Lands end-!" "LION GUARD DEFEND!" They then began to sprint after the cheetah, across the vast and exotic pieces of land which they protected trampling flowers and dried leaves, twigs, and even almost a galago. The clouds were getting bleaker and darker by the minute. It even began to look as if it were about to rain. Then there was a clap of thunder louder than a homeless, starving person's stomach right before they passed away. Beshte saw the look Bunga was giving him. "What is it, Little B?" "It might start to rain, Big B. And if it starts raining, it'd make our rescue even harder." "Don't worry. Kion knows what he's doing. All that matters right now is saving the baby eland before he seriously gets hurt."

And that's when the Guard approached a shallow fissure in the savanna, with rocks leading upwards at the side and a grove of trees nearby. "Kion looks like we're here. But the clouds are making it harder to see. I can't spot the eland anywhere." "Thanks for the update, Ono. Lion Guard spread out and see if you can spot the eland or Fuli. Either one might lead us to the other anyways." "You got it Kion." "Yeah. _Zuka Zama_!" Bunga and Beshte sprang into action going in the opposite direction of Kion and Ono while they kept on going straight.

"See anything new yet, Ono?" "Unfortunately not. All I see is a bunch of clouds and there's a mist rolling in. I don't even think Anga could see anything from up here. Sorry, Kion." The lion cub and the egret continued their search while Bunga and Beshte tried to find some luck. The adventurous honey badger was up on top of a branch near the cliff's edge trying to see if he could spot the animal in danger, but he just put on a look of concern and a tad bit of sadness. Very rare to see the Bravest in the Pride Lands do. "Don't worry, Little B. We'll find Fuli and the baby eland soon." "It's not that. It's just ever since Dylan ran off, we haven't seen him. And he's with the king, so it's not like him to just vanish into thin air." "He's just trying to adapt. He's not at his home, and he probably misses his family, so I'm surprised it took him _this_ long to take some time to himself. Dylan'll be fine. And like you said, he's with the king. No one could harm him even if their life depended on it."

Tiny droplets of rain began pouring onto the kingdom before transforming into a huge rainstorm.

"Kion, I'm telling you if Fuli were here, she'd be screaming and trying to get out of the rain."

_Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!_

"Hey, that animal sounded just like her." "That was her! And it sounded like it came from the top of the cliffs. Lion Guard, let's go!" The Lion Guard dashed up the steep, narrow path to get to the top of the crevasse where their feet met a very soft yet itchy patch of grass from all around them as Kion began tracking Fuli by scent. Why he didn't do that earlier, I have no freaking idea. The smell became stronger and stronger and stronger until they finally saw a fuzzy yet close blur of yellow and brown: Fuli. They ran up to her and they saw that the baby eland safe and sound next to her but with Mzingo's Parliament circling above them.

"All in favor of carrying out Scar's order say 'aye'," the evil bone picker told his group as they began getting closer to Fuli and the baby eland. That's when the Lion Guard confronted them, Kion baring his sharp carnivorous teeth and shiny black claws growling at the Outlanders.

"Mzingo! I thought I told you and your vultures to stay out of the Pride Lands!" "Did you? All of those in favor of denying Kion's remark say 'aye'." "Aye," went the Parliament of wicked and pesky birds. No offense Ono or any other kind of bird. "Now get out before we make you," shouted Bunga from on top of Beshte. "But you wouldn't if you had innocent lives at stake now would you?" They all froze in their tracks.

Animal humor. Ha!

And that's when Mzingo and his accomplice, Mwoga, swooped down and grabbed the eland, lifting it into the air. Fuli was pissed that they were able to get past her guard and grab the baby. The calf yelped in pain, Mwoga pecking at it harshly to shut it up. "You better put him down or else-," Kion began before Mzingo interrupted him. "You'll do what, little lion cub? Roar at us? And risk hurting this baby animal? I don't think so. Now here's the deal: We're going to take this eland to your little Watu friend. If you want both of them back, come to the Outlands' volcano to work out an agreement with the one true king of these here lands. If you get cold feet and don't turn up before sundown, I guess we'll have to feed both to the lava," he said with a sinister chuckle at the end. The Guard looked astonished, just not in a good way. "You can't fool us, Mzingo. We know perfectly well that Dylan is with Simba, safe." "Is he? Or is he not? It seems that Ushari can be very persuasive because we have him at the volcano's caldera and he does not seem happy."

Kion gaped. Bunga looked at the ground and sneered the snake's name now knowing what he and everyone else was up against. "We all learn something new every day, now don't we?"

And like that, the committee of vultures flew off to the Outlands with the baby eland in their grasp. "What are we going to do, Kion?" "We'll have to listen to them. They have Dylan and the eland and we can't risk them getting hurt because of one choice that we failed to make." The group of animals looked at each other and then nodded at their fierce leader with a smile of determination.

"Now, Lion Guard let's head to the Outlands."

**Back to Normal POV**

I always thought being kidnapped would be a lot more fun. Oh, who am I kidding? It always sounded like the most horrific experience any human being could ever endure! And who knew hyenas would tie knots in vines with their bare teeth. My wrists felt shackled being tied up like I was the damsel in distress in an action movie. Because I was! I was close to the edge of the rock holding me and the evil stupid-ass Ushari over the pit of lava which they threatened to throw me in if I tried anything. This was the worst moment of me even being there in the Pride Lands, or more like the Outlands now.

"We're losing daylight here, unfortunately, my little friend. I hope your friends know what's good for them if they don't decide to show up. Otherwise, they're going to have your blood on their paws. Unless all of it dries up as you burn to death down below," Scar said in a menacing and bleak voice, his spirit head getting closer to me with every word it spoke. He was right. If the Lion Guard didn't show up soon, I'd be toast. Literally! I wanted to deny Scar's remark but what came out of my mouth was "Might as well get it over with now, Scar. They wouldn't come for someone like me. They have _actual _creatures to take care of!" "You mean like this guy," a voice from above said.

Was the stress making me hear things? But I soon found out the voice belonged to an evil vulture named Mzingo and his guard of other vultures who followed his every command under a vote like a real parliament back home would do. And they had a baby animal in their talons, carrying it down into the caldera near me and Ushari. It "baaahed" in fear and probably pain from those guys' sharp claws digging into its hide. It couldn't have been smaller than a tissue box.

"You and your vultures have done well, Mzingo. Now the Lion Guard _has _to come here, or else they'll be responsible for _two_ innocent lost lives today!" "That's what you think, Scar!" That voice sounded so familiar. I turned my head as round as I would and saw Kion and the rest of the Lion Guard running down the volcano's entrance toward me and the baby...goat? Bunga and Beshte then took down 6 crocs and hyenas with a single head bop and punch. Very impossible for animals back home to do, but what the hell; I was in a cartoon.

Fuli used her sly speed and fighting skills to take down two hyenas named Cheezi and Chungu and that's when it was just Janja standing between the Lion guard to me and the bab animal's rescue. "Not so fast, cub. You ain't getting past me that easily anymore. I now have a strategy." "And what's that," Kion asked in a sarcastic tone. Jackals then sprung out of nowhere and grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt and the baby by its back skin and they dragged us across the ledge and hung us over the bubbling pit of oozing lava! "Wes got yo friends over there, and if you try to save em now, they die. It's that simple. So back off!"

Kion actually was obeying the hyena's order, but I got why he did what he did. "What do you want for them, Janja!?" Scar's spirit beckoned over the Guard's heads.

"I want your father's kingdom and everything around it. Please?" "No way. There has to be so-," Kion started before the evil lion started saying something else. "Kion, Kion, Kion. Always putting others before himself. You see I even tried asking nicely and was hoping you'd turn over the Pride Lands to me and we would end this peacefully, but if that's your answer..."

And then the jackals' mouths were released from me and the baby animals' bodies. They were no longer suspending us over the lava. They just dropped us. We fell past the ledge and we heard the Guard shouting no and all that stuff. We kept on falling, and falling, and falling, and falling until….

_To Be Continued_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Previously on The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands:**_

And then the jackals' mouths were released from me and the baby animals' bodies. They were no longer suspending us over the lava. They just dropped us. We fell past the ledge and we heard the Guard shouting no and all that stuff. We kept on falling, and falling, and falling, and falling until….

_**Now:**_

_ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAR!_

The loudest roar that I have ever heard just erupted out of the littlest lion cub's mouth. But it wasn't just the sound that was abnormal; it was also the fact that the clouds all formed the heads of four other adult male lions that were seemingly roaring with him. I felt the wind pressure of his roar blasting down onto me, feeling like the complete opposite of a tornado. The wind from the impossible phenomenon blasted through the magma below me, guiding it's impossible power into the lava to create a small safe spot for me to seemingly land on.

I grabbed hold of the baby animal and clenched my eyes shut and the next thing I felt was a hard pressure against my buttocks. I slowly opened my eyes to see that I had safely landed on the spot where Kion's roar parted the lava, safe and sound. Well for the moment.

"Dylan, run," Kion yelled at me after his roar was finished, which meant the lava wasn't going to be parted for me anymore, which meant I had to get the fuck out of there before it was too late. I grabbed the baby by its stomach, put my backpack on my back and ran to a nearby ledge, double-taking to see the lava slowly closing back up. I threw the animal up onto the top of the ledge and gripped one of the wall's edges and then I was back where I began: hanging over the lava! The safe spot Kion created was then swiftly consumed by the volcano's lava and now I really had no choice but to struggle my way up to the top.

The Lion Guard ran my way and started comforting the baby animal before plopping it on Beshte's back. "It's ok, little guy. We'll get you back to your parents in no time." "Oh, that's great, but...AREN'T YOU FORGETTING ABOUT SOMEBODY!?" "We haven't forgotten about you Dylan. Fuli?"

"On it." Kion and Fuli then lowered their heads to my back and gripped part of my shirt in their sharp teeth. I could feel the shirt tugging as the two animals yanked me up to the top of the ledge. I was then finally brought back up to safety, far away from the pit of lava. My lungs were expanding as I took deep and sudden breaths knowing I could've possibly died right then and now, and bowling balls of sweat dripping down my face as I stood up and brushed off my clothes from all the dirt, dust, and droplets of blood from previous events.

My leg that was attacked by a hyena was still sore, but I could feel it healing a little bit. Just relieved that the villains didn't notice it otherwise they would've used my leg as leverage against the Lion Guard. Luckily, they didn't.

"Are you okay?" "You know what? I don't even know what 'okay' feels like anymore. But, yeah; I'm fine. Thanks for coming to get me. I didn't think you cared that much." "Of course we care. You are the king's grandson after all. But you are also our friend, and friends help friends, right?" "Couldn't have said it better myself, Ono. Now, let's get out of here," Kion said in the calmest voice possible as we bolted out of the Volcano's entrance. Well, after they confronted and beat up some bad guys that tried to stop us of course.

"What are we going to do now, Scar," Ushari asked his evil master.

"Like I said before, Ushari: The war has just begun."

Beshte carried me on his back the whole trip back to the Pride Lands along with the baby eland, as I just discovered. We visited Rafiki short after to have him tend my wounds. He eventually got all of them prepped for healing. We then delivered it back to its mother and made our way back to Pride Rock at sunset, but unexpectedly, we came to the same watering hole where I learned to drink "properly" and where I met that stupid dumbass Ushari. Nonetheless, Beshte dropped me off there. "Guys, what are we doing here?" "You deserve a break, Dylan. You've been through a lot today. Relax, and you can come back to Pride Rock whenever you'd like. And take it easy though. We have to go and finish our patrol before nightfall, okay?" "Okay. Thank you." Kion smiled as he led the Lion Guard away from me and off to finish their patrol around the Pride Lands. It had been a stressful and horrific day, so I took his advice and began relaxing. I placed my backpack against a tree and took out my phone from the front pocket. For Africa, they had good service. Well, not _good _service. Good service would be me being able to call home, but this kind of good service only allowed me to access Pandora.

And I had the offline version, so technically speaking the service there sucked ass. I played the theme to _The 100 _as I swiped off my jacket, then my shirt, and the whole process continued until I was buck-ass naked. I scratched the itch on my left buttcheek before slowly easing myself into the watering hole.

The water felt like a million ice needles were pricking my nerves as I went in deeper inch by inch, but I needed and wanted to get as clean as I possibly would. I sighed deeply in relief as I submerged my entire body underwater and began washing off everything that stained my body, from head to toe.

I then dunked my head into the water and did what I like to call the "Ariel flip", which is where I flipped my hair out from underwater the same way Ariel did after she was transformed into a human. Swimming, I made my way to a nearby rock ledge and rested my arms up against them as one would do in a hot tub. That's when a convenient song began to play, one that made me relaxed yet at the same time stirred up some unsettling memories: _Can You Feel the Love Tonight_. And no, it wasn't the original 1994 edition, but the 2019 edition with Beyonce. I get why some people dissed the song when it was first released, but overall it's a good song with great vocalists that doesn't really deserve all the hate that it got. But hey, that's just one boy's opinion.

The sun had been completely swallowed up by the night sky by then and stars began shimmering and appearing throughout, as Timon put it, "that big bluish-black thing." A _beautiful _big bluish-black thing that really made the universe jealous. Everything at that moment was perfect! I closed my eyes and started loosening up and becoming one with nature and everything else around it as I began feeling weightless being in the water for such a long period of time. It was all so beautiful.

After I got done soaking so comfortably, I emerged from the water and started drying myself off by running around in circles and letting the winds and nature do al the work for me. I don't know why it never occurred to me to pack a towel in my backpack the night before, but it's al in the past and there's nothing I could do about it. I put my dirty clothes back into my backpack and brought out my last and only pair of spare clothes which consisted of a plain cherry-red shirt and long beige shorts. My hands brushed through my hair after I got done dressing. Looking back up at the sky, I got an idea from the original film that I had always wanted to try for some reason. I laid down on my back against a moist and pricky field of emerald-green grass and beheld my eyes to a kingdom of sparkly elegant dots, otherwise known as stars. I put both my hands behind my head and just let it all soak in.

I then felt a little push against my arms, but it probably was nothing. The push happened again. I turned my head to see that a severed head from a wildebeest was laid down next to me. No biggie. Wait… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I got so startled, that I backed myself up and fell right back into the watering hole, soaking my only pair of clean clothes left. I got back up and spit out water to see my shirt was covered in mud along with my shorts; I was a complete trainwreck! When my vision was cleared of water, I saw Kion and Simba standing near the edge looking at me. "Oh, hi guys." "Hey, Dylan. What happened? What was that?" "What was what?" "You screaming then falling into the watering hole like a crazy animal." "Oh, that? It was nothing. Just you know, you putting A FREAKING WILDEBEEST HEAD NEXT TO ME kind of did the job. What the hell is that…thing even for," I shouted at them as I got out of the water once again. "Dinner," Kion asked in a nervous voice. "Wha-. Oh no. No no no no no-no-no. There is no way I am drinking the 'proper way', getting kidnapped by bad guys and nearly dying, and eating the flesh off of a dead wildebeest on the same day. Fuck no!" "Well, we just thought you might be hungry."

"While I appreciate the thought, I couldn't eat this even if I wanted to; my stomach doesn't dissolve bacteria in meat, or in this case flesh like your guys' does. I might get food poisoning from eating that." "But haven't you forgotten? You are part-lion, so maybe it will work the same as ours does." I haven't even thought of that. I _am _part-lion, being my dad was originally a lion before he was a human. That would explain why my teeth looked sharp enough for me to look like a lion or tiger or bear, oh my! Ha! See what I did there?  
"Ok, I'll give it a try." I bent down on my knees and hesitantly gnawed at the meat from the wildebeest head that was...delicious! I just started straight up devouring that huge pile of meat, blood dripping from my mouth and onto my already-ruined shorts.

Simba chuckled a little and bent his head down towards my ear. "That's right. You must be starved. Eat up," he said. And eat up I did.

45 minutes went by until I was satisfied with the meal that I had. A loud belch made its way out of my mouth before I threw the skeletal remains to the side, and stood up put my phone back in my backpack and my backpack on my back to try and find a place to sleep for the night. "Dylan, where are you going," Kion asked me. "To try and find a place to sleep for the night. Like that comfy looking bush over there." "Don't bother. You're part of the family now; you sleep with us." I jerked my head back towards them. "Really?" "Of course. Follow us." They led me towards Pride Rock and inside the cave where other fellow lions and lionesses were grouped up seeping amongst one another. "This way." I followed Simba and Kion to an open space in the middle of all the snoozing carnivores and they yanked me to where my face met an extremely cozy and soft furry pillow which was Simba's back. I actually for a moment felt like I was really back at home. But I wasn't. But I still had to get used to it for a while. For now, this was my home. So I just adjusted my position and slowly closed my eyes as Simba told me one final thing before I was dazed off.

"Welcome to our pride."


	11. Chapter 11

The next thing I knew it was morning, the sun's beaming rays managing to shine through my shut-closed eyelids in order to confirm whether it was morning or not. My head was throbbing a little though. I got up to find that I was completely alone in that cave, my head laying against the hard stone floor. No wonder my head was hurting; I didn't have my fuzzy pillow. Well, the rotting bones at the ends of the cave sort of kept me company for a few seconds after my realization. My hands rubbed against my eyelids and I grabbed my phone from my backpack then stepped foot out of the cave and down a winding path where I crossed paths with a baby elephant and its mother, a couple of baboons, and what looked like the lemur from Madagascar. Probably not.

The sounds of birds and other animals were kind of getting on my nerves. I decided it was time to give my ears a break and put on some music. I opened Pandora and clicked on the song _We Come Running _by Youngblood Hawk just to blast out all the noises that made feel like I was listening to a documentary at full volume. I then began picking at the scabs from previous wounds all around my body to try and see if they would either stop itching or just fall off. Literally, any one of those would've been fine by me.

Around the lyrics _"L__ook across the great divide Soon they're gonna hear,__" _I found a nice baobab tree to sit underneath the shade in. I trotted my way there and the next thing I knew my butt was being pricked by the pointy grass in that area as I sat down in a comfortable position, placed my hands behind my back, and closed my eyes for a little while. Uh, more like a long while because the next thing I saw after what seemed like a few moments was a monster truck made out of pudding. I must've been dreaming, which meant I had fallen asleep to the music I was listening to. Must've not gotten enough sleep that night. Probably because in the middle of the night my face was in Kion's ring of fire. Night gas apparently still existed there. Damn, that honey badger was a really negatively smelly influence on the cub. But who says you can't enjoy dreams while they last?

I woke up in an ocean of drool that I soon discovered wasn't mine, with a couple of goathead thorns lodged in my pelvis and a messy pile of hair on my head, which was mine by the way. Just my way of figuratively stating I had bedhead. I groaned my way up to my knees and yawned to the point where my lungs felt like they were about to pop like a balloon. Next to me was an animal of nature, a carnivore, really furry with the males having manes, and they say _ROAR! _

Kids, can you guess what animal was sitting next to me? Ah, I'm just fucking with you guys. I-It was a lion. Well, a lion_ess _to be specific. She couldn't have been younger than Kion. But I remember seeing her on the top of Pride Rock with the rest of the pride minutes before Simba explained the Watu to us. I then remembered the pretty name he brought up before explaining the story of my father: Kiara.

That must've been her.

Kiara resembled her mother, Nala. She had pale golden-orange fur with a cream underbelly, muzzle, and paws. Her eyes were amber-brown and her nose and inner ears were purplish-pink. She had narrow dark brown eyebrows, similar to Nala's. The tuft at the end of Kiara's tail was a soft brown hue. Her sclerae was a vivid shade of yellow, the same as those of her father's, and distinctively brighter than most.

And one more feature I forgot to mention: she had my headphones in her ears. Like literally. My headphones+her ears+my phone= CRAZY! "Uh." "Oh. Um, sorry I didn't mean to wake you up." "Oh. Oh no, you didn't; I did it on my own. The grass here is softer than my bed back home that I just couldn't resist. Not even for a second." "Well, um, I don't really know how soft a bed is. Actually, I don't even know what a bed is. How soft is this…..thing exactly?" "Oh, where do I begin? They can get to be so soft, it's like your laying on fluffed pillows stuffed with cotton candy and heaven rubbing against your body. They're almost as soft as the mattress I saw one day with my friend, Brooke, but she didn't notice because she was just on her phone, taking selfies for her and her friend, Sarah's, Instagram account but-," I began before I noticed Kiara looking a teeny bit confused,

Okay, a lot confused.

Kept on forgetting that the animals there didn't understand technology. I felt like a complete social outcast. So, pretty much the way I was starting to feel at home after the incident that occurred at school. "Oh right. Uh…. OH! Take your den for example." "What about it," she asked in a bubbly yet curious voice raising an eyebrow and shaping a smile. "Well…." That's when I saw a galago leaping from tree to tree behind the lioness and like that I had my example. "Do you know what a galago is?" "No. Matter of fact, I've never even _heard _of a galago."

What? WHAT?! How the SHIT did an inhabitant of a freakin' _ANIMAL _kingdom not know what a fucking galago is? I then just wanted to take that galago and shove it down her throat then watch it emerge from the other end and then….and then…. that's when I realized that I really needed some more sleep. Maybe even a psychiatrist.

"What? Excuse me? Really? Well, basically, a galago is a small nocturnal tree-dwelling African primate with very large eyes. Galagos are currently grouped into three genera, with the two former members of the now-defunct genus _Galagoides_-," I began to pull out of my brain to tell the apparent princess everything I knew about galagos before she hushed me with her paw and began chuckling. "Guy, I was just fooling with you. Of course, I know what a galago is; I'm a lion and the future queen of the Pride Lands." Oh. She was being sarcastic. That actually made a lot more sense.

"Well, thank God for that because now I can get back to my example. Well, since you know what a galago is, you'd know how soft and fuzzy they are." She nodded. "Imagine the den you sleep in, but it's made of galagos." Her eyes widened. "Oh, so that's how soft your beds can be." "Yes, and I have no idea how I got from waking up to talking about galagos. The more important thing is, how are you listening to music and still be a lion?" "Oh, well that funny thingamajig was making noise, and I couldn't quite hear it very well so I put my ears closer and the sound became louder, which led me to believe that if those whatchamacallits were in my ears, I could hear the sound better. And boy, do I love these sounds." I scooted my butt over to her like a dog would, intrigued by her fascination with my music and my phone as a whole. "I-i-i-i-it's called music." "What's music?"

Seriously?! But I enjoyed explaining something to my….aunt over again. And so we layed back against the baobab tree and kept on talking.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the fleeting colors of dusk began to fade away. The crystal-clear water of Lake Matope began to glisten over the rays of light setting, shimmering confidently before dark fell upon them. I made my way to the watering hole for my now-annual bath alongside Kiara after what seemed like hours bonding over things from my world, such as music, different kinds of food, school and how some people say it sucks even though every child needs a well-rounded education, etc.

We finally arrived at the pool of water with me and Kiara bidding each other farewell as if we were never going to see each other again. "This has been fun, Dylan. I really enjoyed our talks about the Watu world." "Me too. I never knew that talking to my aunt would be so much fun than it is back home with boring Auntie Mack." Her eyes just then seemed to widen a little after what I just said to her. "Uh, excuse me but….what? What do you mean 'aunt'?"

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

She didn't know about my father or the fact that we're related. Simba hadn't shown her the secret cave he had shown me and the Guard because she wasn't the age all lions are supposed to be before their dads show them the cave and tell them the story of the chaos that came upon the Pride Lands all those years ago, or the fact about what happened to her long-lost brother. There was then a long pause before all we heard was the sound of a cricket chirping. I always thought it was just a myth and a fictional occurrence that only happened to you in a cartoon. But that's when both me and Kiara turned our heads to the side to see a male adult grasshopper chirping at us from a nearby leafy plant. "You can stop now, Panzi. Thanks for adding the suspense," the cub tod the grasshopper from a distance. In the deepest, macho-est, manliest, and Mexican voice possible, the insect replied, "Anytime, Princess," before leaping off to who knows where.

"Don't mind him. He's always doing this to us most of the time. You'll get used to him."

Phew! She must've completely forgotten about what I referred to her as and I wouldn't have to be the one to tell her about my father! YAY!

"But back to before, why did you call me aunt?"

I spoke too soon.

The look in her eyes told me that telling the truth was the right thing to do and that she deserves an explanation of her family and kingdom's past. But my gut was telling me she wasn't ready and that Grandpa would probably kill me with his mouth if I mentioned even a word because I swore to him that I wouldn't repeat what was in that cave to anyone. So, what came out of my mouth was, "Aunt is a word we use back in the Watu world to describe our friends." Her left eyebrow raised slightly. "Really? Because here, aunt means when someone's sister-," she began to say before I heard Grandpa in the distance shouting her name.

"Kiara!"

"That's my dad. I probably should get back to Pride Rock and get some rest for tomorrow. I'll see you around, Mr. Watu," she said with a wink and a sly smile before running off through the trees. "My name is Dylan," I shouted before sitting back down on the grassy-edge of the watering hole and dipping my feet in and slowly kicking them back and forth, reflecting on what had just happened and what the right thing to do would be. My rippling reflection was then joined by my Grandpa's who had sat down beside me while I wasn't looking. "How are you doing?" "I just got done talking to your daughter. She seems like a genuinely nice animal. I'm sure she'll make a great future queen one of these days." "I tell her that every day." "But she also deserves to know the truth. About the past of the Pride Lands, and….my father." The King suddenly stopped moving. "I know it seems hard, but if you don't tell her eventually your guys' relationship might never be the same again. I speak from personal experience. I once kept a secret from one of my best friends and when they found out, they never spoke to me again." "I just don't know how to tell her, Dylan. I understand that it's hard and I'll have to come to terms with her one day, but I'm worried that if I do she might change and look at the world differently. Look at me differently."

I scooted over and placed my arm around Grandpa's back. "You once said that change isn't easy. And it's not. But what comes out of it could be better than to keep all of this from her. If you really-and I mean really-love her, you'd share this with her. She's your one and only daughter after all. You only got one shot at this. Make it count. I know I really wish my father made it count."

He took a deep breath before exhaling with tears streaming down his face before he pulled me into a tight bearhug. Well, lion-hug. He sniffled before I took my thumbs and dried his eyes. "Dylan, what did I do to deserve a grandchild as kind and noble as you?" "I don't know. But my mom always says that God gives kindness to every living thing on Earth. Just, very few can find it within themselves. I guess I just got lucky. But I wasn't always like this." "What do you mean?" And that's when I had to let my own skeleton out of the closet and tell him everything that happened between me and Aileen. There was a roller coaster of emotions bubbling inside me as I described every vivid detail to my grandfather. I even shed a couple of tears of my own.

He patted me on the back with his paw before nuzzling me with his muzzle. "That is a crazy story. But I understand how you felt. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if I caught Nala sporting with someone else. But I trust and love her with everything I am. And someday, you will find a special someone to share that feeling with. You are still very young. Love will come your way eventually. Enjoy being a child before it all goes away."

"I guess great pep talks are genetic," I said minutes later as my sadness grew lower after my story and what Simba had to say about it. "I guess they are. Are you feeling okay?" "Yeah. It's just that I've never shared that story with anyone ever since I've been here." "Then, maybe it'd make you feel better if you _do _share it with other animals, and receive their empathy and comfort. Like you just told me."

Maybe he was right. Maybe talking to others and expressing my feelings would make me feel better. I just loved him as I did with other relatives back home.

"Maybe. But you know what else is genetic, Grandpa?" "What," he chuckled. And that's when after I stripped off all my clothes I jumped into the water, secretly hiding underwater and swimming my way towards the ledge. I then emerged out of the water, grabbed Simba by his fur, and yanked him into the water mirroring what he did to Nala in the original film during the song _Can You Feel the Love Tonight_. His head popped out from under the water and he began spitting water out from his mouth while laughing while I was singing the lyrics to the song to remind him of his previous actions from the original film. "Very hilarious." I just burst out into hysterical laughter before engaging in splashing my grandfather as he splashed me.

Afterward, me and him rested by a rock ledge with our arms in the hot tub position against the ledge while just relaxing together as grandfather and grandson. And that's when I got the idea to transform this into an actual jacuzzi. I pinched my eyes shut and pushed gas into the water, creating bubbles that rose to the surface, a small warm spot near me, and a sound similar to a gurgling mass.

Grandpa chuckled before saying, "Nice one. But let me show you how it's done." And then he repeated my action and pushed an even bigger gas into the water creating even more bubbles and warmth throughout the water. He hung out his tongue and let out a huge sigh afterward. "Damn. Seriously, Grandpa where did you learn to do that?" "Ah, let's just say, growing up, I learned from the best." I could just tell he was making a reference to the flatulent warthog that raised him.

With all of that nonsense aside, something about that night brought something out in me. That night, I felt sincere, caring, fun, and any synonyms for the words above. But, most importantly, I felt love. Real love. Familial love.

That really pure and rare kind of love….that never dies. 


	12. Chapter 12

"Lion Guard, I do not think that the chit-chatting over there is going to get me out of this weirdly huge hole," the obnoxious zebra, Thurston, yelled out muffled while me and the Guard tried to figure out how to get the mammal out of the little dug-up hole. I don't even know how he got stuck in there in the first place. What kind of idiot high on stupidity would even think that his body would fit in a hole made for a _much smaller _animal than himself? "How did you even get stuck down there," I shouted into the cracks of the hole that weren't blocked by zebra ass. His rear end then jumped up as I heard a muffled scream from within the den's entrance. Do not freakin tell me that he was afraid of questions. "Don't yell at me. I'm startled very easily." "That's not the only thing you're very easy at," I heard Fuli mutter under her breath.

"But, really how did you get down there," I _whispered_ into the hole. "What do you mean?" "Why in the Pride Lands are you trapped in an aardvark den is what I mean. Like, what were you doing before you were in there?" "Hmm. Let's see. I woke up in the morning with an itchy-," he started before I walked away in fear and disgust before he could even finish that story. I didn't even really care how he got down there anymore. "I don't even want to know how he got down there anymore guys." "Good because it's not important. What is is how we get him out of there before it gets hard to-," Ono started before the zebra made another loud cry that everyone could hear. "Aaaaaah! Help me! The magic air-stuff is disappearing!" And his entire body was wiggling enough for the entire other half of his body to emerge from the hole, with only a few scratches on his neck and upper-stomach from the rocks and dirt from the den. "Huzzah! I'm free," he shouted before galloping off into the unknown. Or at least back to find his herd or back to his grazing grounds or….my best bet is off a cliff considering who we're dealing with.

I looked back at the team of animals confused. "Air-stuff?" "-Breathe," Ono finished his sentence from before. We were clearly done with that rescue mission. We trotted our way back to the Lair of the Lion Guard in the side of Pride Rock. I know right? I didn't even know that there was a secret cave in the side of the rock, and I know almost everything from the original film.

The Lair is a large area at the base of Pride Rock. The walls are covered with many paintings, including those of other Lion guards from the past, and thus also including Kion and Scar. I didn't even know that the worst and best Disney villain ever was once part of something sacred as what the Lion Guard told me what they're all about. But I understood when they explained that he murdered his own Guard which led him to lose the power of the roar Kion now possesses. But let's not waste any time talking about him; let's get back to the Lair.

It is an area designed specifically for members only, with some foliage growing around it and a large pool in the center, which leads to Lake Shangaza from the outside. Many rocks surround the Lair of all shapes and sizes, which are mostly used for resting on. Of these, one noticeable rock hangs over the pool, which bears a resemblance to Pride Rock itself. A small shaft of light also peers down from outside.

"I just don't get it."

"What don't you get, Dylan?" "Don't take this the wrong way, but why won't that guy just complete his journey in the circle of life already!? How do you guys put up with that kind of stubbornness?"

"We already deal with it every day," Fuli said in a sassy tone with everyone's head suddenly slowly turning around to face Bunga in the corner of the lair, crunching very loudly on what I assumed was bugs based on what I witnessed when I first arrived in the Pride Lands. "Okay, point taken. " And that's when Grandpa called Kion's name very loudly from atop of Pride Rock. "What's going on with the King?" "I don't know, but we're about to find out. Come on, guys," Kion said before all six of us emerged from the Lair's entrance and made our way up Pride Rock's winding path up to the top where Simba and apparently the rest of the pride were waiting for us.

"Mom? Dad? What's going on?" "It seems to be very serious, son. Zazu has just received word from the underground that some chaos seems to be developing in the Theluji Mountains: King Sokwe has been acting strange lately and just this morning, he attacked a sounder of forest hogs for no explained reason," Nala told Kion with a concerned look on her face, and Simba doing the same but with me. "Believe me, Dylan. I've known King Sokwe long enough to know that he doesn't just use violence against other animals, and he respects the Circle of Life just as much as you and me and everyone in here. Something is up and we need you and the Guard to find out what. You need to go to the Theluji Mountains, find Sokwe, and make him stop before anyone else gets hurt."

I honestly didn't know what to say; it was my very first real mission with my new friends. Of course, I had to accept because I didn't want to put innocent animals' lives at risk if I didn't go.

But with it being my first actual stop-the-bad-guy mission like I had said before, I wasn't really equipped with the sets of skills that real heroes have. What if I fuck up and end up hurting someone like I did back home? This was different. It wasn't like any of the animals had stolen the only girl I'd ever loved before right? Right?

"Okay, Grandpa. I'll go with them. I won't let you down. At least I hope so. Never make promises you can't keep though, as my mother would say." He chuckled for a little bit. "She sounds like a very nice Watu." "Oh, believe me, she is," I said before dashing out of Pride Rock with the Guard away to the hills at the other end of the and that looked like they were covered in snow, but there is no way on Earth that even 1% of snow is in Africa. But what Grandpa said got me thinking. About my mother. I couldn't even imagine what she might be going through back home. But, Hakuna Matata. I'm sure she's fine.

_**In Oklahoma (the Watu World)**_

"I am _**NOT **_fine," Dylan's mother, Vanessa, standing next to her boyfriend, Ruben, shouted at the policeman standing at their door at 3 AM. She had made that 9-1-1 call because she woke up in the middle of the night to get herself a drink of water and go to the bathroom when she heard the strangest noise coming from her son's room. She creaked open the door and shouted Dylan's name and walked over to her bed only to discover that the mattress was empty and there was no trace of him. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

"Ma'am, I understand your concern and we will get the finest of our guys out there to search for your son, but in the meantime let's go over what exactly happened today."

"Well, he was recently suspended from school earlier this afternoon due to a dispute he had with another classmate over a girl liked, and he was so upset when we brought him back home. He went into his bedroom, slammed the door, we would hear him flat-out bawling, and that's the last time we saw him today," she said with a river of tears emerging from her pupils and down her cheek, splashing puddles of salty water onto the dry concrete. Another officer came out of his room with an evidence bag full of freshly folded clothes that his mother almost immediately recognized as her son's. "Wait. W-w-w-w-w-what are you doing with his clothes?" "They were already folded and under his bed next to a suitcase. And we also found traces of food missing from y'all's fridge and pantry, so my best bet is that your boy ran away." Vanessa's legs just turned to jello in the moment when she heard the possible news that the boy she had raised good and loved for 12 years had purposely abandoned her. And for what? A stupid girl that she knew would not be the end of his life? A simple argument worse than past ones? The fact that he might've not loved her anymore?

All those thoughts just tattered every bit of her being even more.

It wasn't any better than when she had to sit in a police station shortly after for 2 hours answering questions the police had written about her little boy. She was still waiting in the interrogation room when an African American detective stepped into the room with a file in his hands and two parents standing behind him who she realized were the parents of the girl that had wrecked her son's mind: Aileen.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jaime? What are they doing here," she said jumping out of her chair to the other side of the room. "Vanessa, my name is Detective Licon and these two just had a couple of questions for you about their daughter before we proceed any further with your son." "'Proceed any further?' My son is out there in who knows where, possibly freezing or starving or something, he may even be dead! And now you just want to cast him aside to ask me questions about the bitch who was the reason he probably ran away in the first place? Screw that!" "Ma'am, ma'am, calm down. Judging by what we found at your house, he should have packed enough provisions to last him a solid two weeks. Chances are he's fine. But Mr. and Mrs. Jaime's daughter, on the other hand, might not be."

Her brain stopped engulfing itself with rage. What did the detective mean by Aileen not be okay? She could then see without anger behind her eyes that her parents seemed to be in the same emotional state as her when she found out about her son, only 10 times worse.

"Okay then, Detective," she inhaled before sitting back down softly and calmly in her chair as him and the Jaimes did the same.

"You may proceed."

_**In the Pride Lands**_

The ThelujiMountains was an area located just outside the Pride Lands, with snow-covered mountains that had raised mounds and hills in many places, with a variety of different plants and bushes that are able to survive the cold temperatures scattered around. Snow-covered rocks are also hiding around the area. Some cliffs were completely covered in frigid ice. I could not believe that there was actual in-tact snow in the middle of freaking Africa. It was as if all of the forces of nature were somehow being magically or supernaturally altered and changed like in cartoons. But with all of that put aside, I had a very important mission to focus on. Me and the Guard had to find this King Sokwe who was apparently hurting other animals and stop him before his mayhem goes any further.

I could not let Grandpa down after everything that I've been through with him and all my new friends by my side. "So, where are we supposed to go from here, Kion?" "This is only the beginning, Dylan. Sokwe's cave is on the very top of that mountain all the way over there. Last time me and the Guard were here, we went through a whole jungle and a very amusing snowball fight to even make there. We should be there soon."

Last time? I didn't even want to know what brought them out of their kingdom to find some royal gorilla that is now hurting...forest hogs is what I was told.

After what seemed like 20 minutes is when we climbed a ridiculously tall mountain to discover a very tall cave with a big opening covered in snow and a few rock piles and trees just outside only a few minutes away. But then…

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**_

The sky was suddenly being consumed by black clouds shooting out lightning and heavy drops of rain began falling out of them as well. That made 0 sense. How could a massive storm appear out of nowhere in under 11 seconds without us noticing that it was coming even a minute ahead of time? "Guys, what is going on?" "I don't know. Ono! Any intel on what this is?" "Negative. Storms just don't randomly appear, Kion. Something's not right."

Ono was correct. And things weren't right. They were strange and at this rate somewhat normal based on the stuff I had seen in this strange land. Not that it's strange because it's home to my father and grandparents and...you get the point. Only I had wished that things were only going to get worse from that point on. Because something had spotted us. Something supernatural and malevolent that would only make my journey here even harder than it remotely even was.

And the situation would have only gotten a smidge better if I had noticed an evil force lurking behind us, that took form as a lioness, but not a _regular _lioness.

A lioness made...of purple flames.

"Why, hello, Lion Guard!"

_**To Be Continued**_

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

**Hi guys. Sorry it's taken over a month for me to update this story. It's been hard to focus because I recently caught the flu a couple of days ago. But my self esteem had been brought down weeks before that ever since that negative review was left on my fanfic. But I soon realized that some people's opinions don't matter. And if they don't like it, then that's their problem because I have all of you other readers out there who enjoy whenever I post a new chapter and even take the time to leave a nice comment about it in the review section. It means so much to me that you guys would take time out of your day just to read what I have written, which has been my dream ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and all the other ones I have coming in the new year, but until then, have a Merry Christmas and I'll see you whenever I see you. **

**-DBROWN13**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Previously on The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands:**_

And the situation would have only gotten a smidge better if I had noticed an evil force lurking behind us, that took form as a lioness, but not a _regular _lioness.

A lioness made...of purple flames.

"Why, hello, Lion Guard."

_**Now:**_

We all jerked our bodies around at the sound of someone calling our team name, only to discover that there was nobody there. And at the very same moment, the immense rainstorm vanished along with its bleak black clouds. Everyone then shook themselves dry as you would see cats and dogs doing after becoming soaked, and looks of wonder and disbelief appeared on their faces.

The voice was odd and rather curiously frightening. I hadn't had a good history with hearing voices out of the blue. They all usually belonged to bad guys who meant me harm and who lead me to places far away from my friends and hold me hostage and try to have me killed to satisfy a murderous evil-doer and…sorry. Still not over the kidnapping that happened a couple of weeks ago.

Nevertheless, I still felt as if something bad was going to happen to me because of that soothing female voice that we all just heard coming from behind us. The only thing that was, as we could see, was a boulder with moss growing upon it and a few termites crawling on it, which triggered Bunga's insatiable appetite and led to their demise via snacktime. The possible suspicion that whoever was speaking was hiding behind the rock slowly began to overcome me. But Kion suggested that we keep on going as we were so close to reaching Sokwe's cave to find out what led to his now violent and outrageous behavior.

"Guys, did you hear that?"

"Yeah."

"I really have a bad feeling about that voice that we just heard. Last time I heard a voice like that, I was deceived by a diabolical lying snake." "Oh, you must mean Ushari. Yeah he's...not exactly fond of the Pride Lands anymore," Fuli said as she continued groaning while shaking the water out of her fur. I could tell that she was not water's number one fan. But what did she mean by Ushari not being fond of the Pride Lands _anymore_? "What do you mean 'anymore'?"

"That's a very interesting story, Dylan." Bunga almost then immediately dashed in front of the cheetah. "And one I can tell you since he hates me the most." And then the talkative and obnoxious honey badger went on and on from the very beginning. He told me stuff like how the Lion Guard always trampled over him at times, but only if they were in a rush or if someone needed to be rescued from danger. It was never on purpose. They also never respected his privacy and personal space as they once squeezed a hyrax-his lunch-out of his mouth and then threw him across the ground seconds after. Ushari was also responsible for the resurrection of Scar's spirit according to the story after putting up with them for many years.

From what he was saying, it sounded a lot like _they_ were the reason that the cobra became evil and turned his back against the Pride Lands and the circle of life. I mean 70% of his villainy came from being run over and disrespected by the Lion Guard. Even though it was never on purpose. He was still sick in the head to bring back an evil lion from the past just for being run over accidentally. Asking for respect might've been a better solution.

"And that's the whole story of Ushari's treachery." "Um, don't you guys think that some of his betrayal could've come from you?" They all stood silent and frozen. "I-i-it's not our fault that we kept on running him over. It was all during a battle with the Outlanders or a rush to get to an animal in need." "I can see that, but I mean knocking his lunch out of him and throwing him seems a bit much. All living things have to eat, no matter if the food was just rescued or not. And if you hadn't done that, he wouldn't have got all pissed and in your face and then there would've been no reason to throw him."

"Can't you guys just admit that Ushari becoming a bad guy is somewhat on you?"

_**In Oklahoma (the Watu World)**_

_Tick! Tick! Tick!_

The sound of the clock going by was really starting to get on Vanessa's nerves, being that she had to listen to it for the past 2 and a half hours after the interrogation about Aileen started with this Detective Licon. She really felt as if talking about that girl was only going to break her heart more because it reminded her of her son and how he supposedly ran away from home. But she had to in order to escape from that prison-literally-and drive back home to where she would probably just break down even more and grow more insane every minute she didn't have her son back.

"Ok, Vanessa, let's go over the facts: This Aileen Jaime, according to her parents, started experiencing strange behavior over the last couple of weeks ever since your son was suspended from school, she has had over five physical outbursts since then which involved the demolition of her bedroom and the death of her hamster, and she just recently was found unconscious in her bathroom with an empty bottle of Antidepressants on the counter. Luckily, paramedics were able to arrive in time to flush the toxicity out of her system, and she is now in critical yet stable condition in the Overlook Community Hospital 15 minutes away from here."

Vanessa, arms and legs crossed with droopy and sleepy eyes, could barely even hear what the dude was saying. Dylan was the only thing that she allowed her brain to think about. Despite what she had heard from the police about him having supplies to last him for a while, even she knew that he wasn't mature enough to know how to pack a suitcase properly and care for himself _by _himself. And the dangers he might've been experiencing somewhere just tightened her nerves and shut down any hope she had for her son left.

"And finally, Vanessa, the doctors Aileen is currently with for psychiatric evaluation keep on hearing the exact same thing from the girl. All about how a lion made of fire is coming to destroy the world and that some group of animals led by a lion cub is the only thing that can stop it. It's all very heavy, Vanessa at the moment and we were just wondering if any of this girl's behavior makes sense to you given that you were a pediatrician in the past."

"That was a very long time ago, Detective. I quit that job to care for my child after his father left us and now it all seems to be for nothing! My baby is out there scared and hurt or possibly even worse. Do you even know what it feels like to lose the child that you taught right from wrong to for the past 12 years? Do you even know how any of this makes me feel?"

But alas, the detective did not have the slightest clue how she had felt. He hadn't had a case this serious in the past 20 years of his career. He wished he would help make her feel better but anything tried would probably only make her feel worse. So he just sat back and continued writing in his notepad while Vanessa turned around in her chair facing the wall and thinking back to all the good qualities of Dylan that she might never be able to see or feel again. She even seemed to have cried to maximum capacity because her tear ducts seem to have dried out from her hours of sobbing about the very boy that she wanted to cry about even more . Vanessa sighed and looked up at the ceiling, looking like she was praying but in actuality was saying something to her son, no matter where he was.

"I miss you, Dylan."

_**In the Pride Lands**_

We continued hiking up the mountain after about a 10-minute rest stop to talk about the Lion Guard's involvement in Ushari's turning, my feet becoming closer to catching frostbite with every next step that I took. It literally felt like I was walking on ice cream before we take it out of the freezer. "Guys, how much longer until we get to this King Sokwe because my toes will actually fall off if we have to go any further! I'm gonna become a human popsicle. Not exactly on my bucket list," I complained to the furries ahead of me probably getting cozy in their cold-resistant fur.

"Well, Dylan, tell your toes that they're going to have to wait because the cave is straight up there." There was no way! I looked up and that's when, after the snow cleared up a little bit, I saw a tall cave with a big opening covered in snow and a few rock piles and trees just outside.

Well, hallelujah.

But of course something had to go wrong just before I could get all triumphant and get to where I had to be. The ground began shaking as if an earthquake was occurring, but then an animal jumped out at us and began roaring in a way at us, blocking the only way to get to the cave. It was a large, bulky male silverback mountain gorilla with dark brown fur, a tall sagittal crest. He had darker fur on his arms and crest. On his lower end, he had a gray-brown fur. His underbelly, ears, hands and feet were a weak beige color. His face was gray and his nose was pink.

"King Sokwe," Kion shouted as he got into a fighting stance and bared his sharp teeth, still a little stained from the gazelle we had for dinner last night, at him. So this was the king that murdered and rampaged some forest hogs? Cause I could totally see how at that moment.

His eyes weren't normal though. They were glazed over to the point where he look demonically possessed, with some sort of purple energy clouding them as well. It was almost as if he was under some kind of spell. But that couldn't be possible seeing as if there was no magical entities around us.

And then the black storm clouds came back.

But at that very same instant, the gorilla's eyes seemed to have gone back to normal and he acted like he had just woken up from a coma with a headache, his humongous right hand on his head before he collapsed unconscious onto the ground.

And just seconds after that is when an impossible lightning bolt the color of purple struck on a dead tree inches away from us, engulfing it into purple fire melting the snow from the top and consuming the branches easily before the fire became bigger and eventually burned the whole tree.

Something was then formed from the colored flames. The fire was magically put together somehow to form a lioness made of the exact same purple combustion it was born from. It resembled Nala in a way, with a muzzle longer than the average lion's and evil white angular eyes. Starting from 3 feet, the seemingly ghost entity rose to become over 20 feet tall, even growing enough to be the same size as the mountain we were standing on.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?" None of us knew what exactly was going on. Only that some sort of supernatural lion made of fire, nonetheless purple fire, was towering over us as if we were ants.

"Well, look who I've stumbled into. The Lion Guard, is it?" "How do you know who we are?" "Oh, I've always known you. Each and every one of you five. Kion, the Fiercest. Bunga, the Bravest. Fuli, the Fastest. Beshte, the Strongest. And Ono, the Keenest of Sight. Oh." The lioness looked down to meet me almost face to face. "But you're new." Her flamey eyes glowed brighter almost as if they were projecting spotlights onto me. She closed her eyelids and mumbled some sort of weird, un-understandable language. She then sighed and brought her head back over to me. "You're a Watu, aren't you, little one?" "Why would I tell you that?" "Whoa. Feisty much? But Shetani already knows all, Watu." "You don't know me at all. And my name is Dylan," I shouted to her. But her voice sounded so familiar. Where have I heard it before. Wait. But before I could come to a conclusion, she began talking again.

"Well, _Dylan_, you are feisty. And let me ask you this: what are you doing at the bottom of a hole?" That made absolutely no sense. Confusion showed in my face as me and the Guard just stood there waiting for an answer to the ridiculous question we were just asked. And boy did we get one. The fire lioness opened up her mouth as wide as she would, revealing an endless maw of sharp teeth of course made of fire, some straight and some crooked or even cracked and broken. And then she shot a bolt of lightning into the ground, cracking it to the point where a large hole was formed just like a sinkhole would that seemed bottomless right below me before shutting her mouth, doing a bit of an evil chuckle, and eventually disappearing.

Of course she could do that. Of course. OF FUCKING COURSE!

The ground I was standing on soon became no more, and I plummeted what seemed like 36 meters underground, seeing the Guard looking down on me shouting things at me before they were too far away to even see.

And then darkness.

I was then in the same state I was in when I was attacked by that hyena and passed out: unconscious but still able to think and feel. Just not see or move. My sense of sight soon began to return to me. My eyes fluttered open to see that I was at the bottom of some sort of cavern. There were stalagmites and stalactites made of light brown mineral rock all around me as far as I could see.

I saw that I had some bruises and scrapes, but no serious cuts or lacerations. Getting hurt was really starting to become a habit. By the time I get back home, if that was possible, I'd be dark enough from all these wounds to classify as an African American. I hesitantly got up on my feet, and began walking/exploring this cave I was in. There was nothing interesting going on until I noticed a strange glowing aqua blue light coming from another side of the cave I was in. I was then completely mesmerized by it. It was as if something was pulling me towards the light.

I found myself walking and following the light to the very end of the cave to discover some sort of weird object sticking out of a grey boulder. The object seemed to be half of a circle made from stone with weird markings carved into it. And it was poking out from the boulder like it was the sword in the stone. I trotted up to it and was about to touch it then take it out, but then I remembered similar situations to what I was in in movies back home. I'd take it out from the ock, but then it would sense that I removed the circular piece of stone and have the entire cave collapse right on top of me and kill me. I had to be smarter than that.

I looked around and saw a rock similar to the piece of stone stuck in the massive boulder. I broke it in half to the point where it looked exactly the same as the object in the boulder. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I immediately took the stone circle out of the boulder and replaced it with the fake piece of rock I had just broke in half faster than Fuli would run if it started to rain.

Nothing happened.

I scoffed before examining the piece of weird-looking rock and put it into my pocket before I heard a low growl coming from behind me. I jolted my head around and saw that I was being cornered by a fully grown male lion as he emerged from the darkness on the opposite side of where I was standing. He had fur similarly colored like Simba's that looked a bit worn out and tattered, eyes that were similar to Kion's, and a rusty brown mane that looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. "L-l-l-l-l-let's talk about this. I-I-I-I don't mean you any harm."

"What are you doing with the piece of the Ukewe Disk?"

"The kiwi what?"

I had no clue what the hell he was saying or at least trying to say.

"Who are you?"

"The name's Sahau. It is my sworn duty to protect that with my life from animals that mean others harm if in possession. So I ask you again: what are you doing with it?" "I-I-I don't know. It just looked pretty." "Oh, just because you think something is pretty you think it gives you the right to steal it?" "N-n-n-no. I-I-I was taught better than that actually. My mother taught me right from wrong; how could I be so stupid to forget that. Just because I'm a Watu doesn't give me this right."

And the word "Watu" seemed to have scared him shitless because he stopped in his tracks and stood still for over a minute. "Mister, are you okay?" "W-w-w-w-what did you just call yourself?" "A Watu. That's what I've been told by my grandfather, King Simba." He then just started bursting out into hysterical coughing as if he was choking on something. "Mister, are you sure you're okay?" "Do you have a father?" "I-I-I did, but he abandoned me and my mother a long time ago." His eyes widened. He took three steps closer towards me and began to sniff my hair. He gasped and took three steps back with noticeable tears forming in his eyes. I just stood there.

"D-D-D-Dylan?" _My _eyes began to widen like his.

"How do you know my name?" "T-t-t-t-that's a very good question. And here's the answer."

And then he began to sing. But not just any song. "_Can you feel my love tonight? The peace the evening brings_." I let out a shaky breath before stepping in and singing the next line. "_The world for once in perfect harmony_." I saw a tear leaking from his left eye before we both sang the last line together in perfect harmony. Get it? Never mind. "_With all its living things_." Tears began leaking from my eyes as I realized there was only one person who knew that song. I stepped forward and looked this lion in the eyes and began caressing his mane and smelling cherries all over his fur.

I closed my teary eyes.

"Dad?"


	14. Chapter 14

_**First of all, thank you guys so much for 10,000 reads! It really means so much to me that all of you guys care enough about my mediocre writing that was mostly made fun of as a little kid to reach this milestone. Second of all, I'd like to give credit to SilverGate48 for his help on this chapter, and probably the rest of the story. He's really been a big help that I never knew I needed until him. Lastly, as most of you know if you have read the last chapter, Dylan unexpectedly met his father, Kopa, who he had thought left him all those years ago. But how did he even end up in the Watu world to begin with? Think of these next few chapters as his background and origin story before we get back to what's happening with his son. Enjoy!**_

_**-DBROWN13**_

* * *

Simba just stared at his mate in disbelief as to what she had just told him, his eyes as wide as the spaces between expectations and reality. His heart was beating at a million miles an hour, his breathing becoming more labored, and even his mane started to become a little wet from the sweat he was producing as he began inhaling and exhaling more rapidly before he stopped and continued to just stare awkwardly at Nala as they both sat at the top of Pride Rock as the sun began to set, all sorts of beautiful changes happening to the environment that Simba could see reflect in her eyes.

"S-Simba, did you hear me?"

The lion king just began stuttering while his eyes started to become cross and he began to lose the ability to focus.

"I. I said I'm pregnant."

That one little phrase just made him lose it. Nala? Pregnant? It was so much for him to take in. "Are you okay?" "Um...yeah. I-I-I'm fine. I just think I need to be somewhere right now." "But, Simba." It was too late. He had already walked away from her with his thoughts running in circles like a toy train. I mean he knew that she was starting to put on a little bit of weight, but he knew better than to ask a lady-better yet his mate-about how much she was starting to weigh. But back to the more important subject of the matter: the pregnancy. He had never even thought about becoming a father. That always usually made him think about _his _father, and how much it hurt about how he's gone and how it's affected him.

What if he wasn't cut out to be a dad? What if he just ends up breaking his cub's heart as his father did him, though not intentionally.

He sighed as he walked through the fields of the Flood Plains as the doubts of him failing his future son or daughter kept on corrupting his mind like it was some sort of computer virus that one just can't seem to get rid of, no matter how much technology and effort you put into it.

Simba finally reached the peak of a tall grassy hill as he sat down with his thoughts. He was finally starting to get control of his breathing. _What am I going to do_ he thought while he just continuously stared up into the night sky as if he was going to get some answers from it. And gazing at the stars made him remember a moment he had shared with his father in the past when he was still just a young cub. He told his son that the Great Kings of the Past looked down on him from up there, and how they, including his father, will always be there to guide him whenever he felt lost or alone.

He knew it was a long shot, but what did he have to lose anyway? He looked up into the sky once more and closed his eyes with a tear dripping from one of them. "Father, I am lost. Something big has come up that I know you wouldn't believe if you were even here. Turns out, that I'm going to be a father. I-It's freaky. Believe me, I am so so happy about it but...raising a child is the biggest responsibility I've ever had to do, and I'm the _KING_. I guess I'm just worried that I'll end up hurting them like how I was when you left me. This was...this was dumb," he said as he began to walk away back towards Pride Rock until he heard a Darth Vader-like voice coming from behind him. He jerked his body back to see his father! Except not physically. Mufasa was shown in the clouds with dulled color. He was a well-built lion, with orange fur and a creamy peach muzzle and underbelly. His mane was thick and dark red, the same color is present on the tuft at the end of his tail. His eyes were dark brown, and his nose was pink. He had a square jaw, small eyes, and thin eyebrows. "I never left you," he spoke to his son, "and I never will." Simba began to get a bit emotional at the sight of his father. He hadn't seen him for a while ever since he convinced his son to return home and take his place in the circle of life as the one true king.

"Dad, I-I-I don't know what to do," he said in a cracking voice. "Son, do not put so much pressure on yourself. You will not be alone in this amazing journey you and Nala are about to embark on. Becoming a father is the best thing that would ever happen to you. I speak from personal experience. And hurt is something you shouldn't worry about. You are an amazing son and you will be an amazing dad. But remember, anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a dad."

"I'll remember that. Thank you, father." "Anytime, son. I love you." "I love you, too."

And like that, Mufasa nodded his head and slowly began to disappear from the sky, but deep down Simba knew that he would never disappear from his heart, where he held a very special place. With a swipe of his paw and a recap on what he had been told by his father, he returned back to Pride Rock to own up to his responsibilities as a dad. Nala was waiting for him at the entrance to their den somehow knowing that her mate would be returning after fleeing to take some time on his own. "Nala, look. I am so sorry that I just took off without-," he started in exhaustion before the Queen began saying something as well. "You don't have to explain yourself, Simba. I shouldn't have brought it upon such short notice. I just thought that you'd be happy and-," she said before her mate interrupted her as she did him.

"I _am _happy. Like beyond happy. I was just a little scared of hurting the kid or something until someone showed me that I just have to make the most of it and not focus on the negative parts of it." "Simba, you would never hurt someone. You're so kind and smart and loyal and caring. And a tad bit mischievous. Just like the cub that I grew up with. If that isn't father material, then I don't know what is." Simba smiled and then went to nuzzle his mate. Even though lions don't commonly purr, it's a fucking cartoon so just bear with me. After a while, Simba lost all thoughts and doubts he had previously had and just embraced the joyfulness of future fatherhood as he began laughing in excitement and looking down at Nala's growing stomach. "Don't you worry, little one. Soon, you are going to meet your mommy and daddy. We can't wait to meet you," he said in a baby-like manner to the developing baby from the outside. His head rose back up to face his mate's beautiful glowing eyes. "Don't worry, Nala. You won't be going through this alone. _We_ are going to have this baby. You...and me. Together. As we were always meant to."

The next few months were spent very delicately yet enjoyable. The King and Queen got to tell all of their closest friends about the baby over time and received even more support than they were expecting to get. Timon and Pumbaa especially. They kept on bringing special grubs over to the pregnant lioness called Utamu even though they knew that she did not like grubs like her mate once did. It's the thought that counts though.

Simba and Nala went to Rafiki every once in a while just to check up on the baby and see how it was doing. One visit with him was where the Great Lions of the Past told him that the baby was going to be a boy. And then the day that they were all waiting for finally arrived: the delivery.

While Nala was in labor inside of their den with Rafiki and the other lionesses, Simba was impatiently pacing and waiting outside with Timon and Pumbaa as his support group. "How long has it been you guys?" "Uh, Simba it's only been a couple of minutes since you last asked." "I'm sorry. It's just that we've been waiting for this day to come for so long and now that it's here," he began to say before the meerkat put one finger against the worrying lion's lips and shushed him.

"Simba, calm down. Just take deep breaths and calm down." "I don't think I can. I can't! What if," he shouted before Timon pressed his finger against his lips even harder. "SIMBA!" He inhaled and exhaled calmly before he finally stopped losing his mind just for a little while. "Thanks, you guys. I don't know what I'd do without you." "Well, you'd still be lying in the hot sun about to be eaten by vultures for one." Simba smiled and giggled at his best friends and bent down to hug them. "Your Majesty," a voice from behind them said. They all turned to see that it was Rafiki standing at the den's entrance gesturing for them to come in, indicating the cub had been born. Simba gulped and slowly began to walk inside the cave alongside Timon and Pumbaa, down an aisle of lionesses lined up with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes until they came upon Nala laying down on a rock that resembled the edge of Pride Rock itself. And she wasn't alone. Inside her motherly arms, was a healthy, adorable, and newborn baby cub. Simba gasped, trying to hold back tears as he lowered his head to see the cub asleep inside his mother's arms.

"Say hi to your son, Simba." "You. You are the jolliest, angelic creature that I have ever seen. Welcome to the circle of life," He paused and stared at the ceiling for inspiration, "Kopa."

The young cub prospered very well over the next couple of years. He learned about the circle of life and how he needed to respect it, how to talk to new animals and how to make friends, but most importantly, he began training for his role as the future king very early at about the same age as his father. Simba even reenacted where he and Mufasa sat atop Pride Rock as the sun rose and he gave Kopa the very same information that his father had previously given him one morning.

"It is a big responsibility, son. One day all of the duties that I possess as King, will be passed down to you. And that will happen with your kids one day, and then theirs and so on and so forth." "Wow. Then in that case, now I just can't wait to be king."

Simba attempted to try to teach his son how to hunt properly, but all that got him was a kick to the face by some pretty pissed off antelope. Their lives were perfect and complete now that Kopa had finally been born. Until that one fateful day.

"SON WHAT WERE YOU THINKING," Simba scolded/shouted at his son after they returned to Pride Rock at sunset after he had caught Kopa trying to sneak into the Outlands. Kopa was still very young so he didn't know any better, but Simba loved him with all that he was and couldn't risk losing him. "Dad, I. I'm sorry." "Don't Kopa. Just don't. Do you have any idea what you are putting at risk by doing something so reckless!? The entire reputation of this kingdom ruined because of a cub doesn't even have what it takes?!"

Simba paused himself in silence realizing what he had just said. But in his defense, it was out of anger and love. Kopa was curling himself in fear while he cried in quiet at what his father had just said.

"K-K-Kopa. Listen to me. That was a mistake." "Oh, is that what you think I am? A MISTAKE," he yelled as he shot up from his scaredy-cat position and stood tall against his father still with a little bit of teary eyes. "No! You were a miracle sent by the Great Lions of the Past." "Really? Because you told me that when two lions love each other they," he began to counterargue with his father before he yelled his son's name in revolt. "Not relevant right now, Kopa." "Is that what I am. Not relevant?" "Kopa! You can't just turn what I say against me and make it all about me."

"Well, guess what, Dad? It _is _about you. This whole thing is all about you. You didn't even stop to consider the feelings that a certain little boy has before you said that I don't have what it takes to rule the Pride Lands. And you know what, Dad? I sometimes wish that you were not even my father," he yelled into Simba's face before running away from Pride Rock and into the tall grass where he couldn't be seen anymore due to the lack of sunlight, it being nighttime and all.

Simba's tears stained the rock he was standing on as he went into his den knowing that his son would return because of him being afraid of the dark. But boy was he wrong.

Kopa trotted through a nearby meadow, absolutely sobbing his eyes out because of his father's words.

The hurt in his heart was something that he had never felt before. And never wanted to. It was as if his whole world was just flipped upside down. He didn't even know how he felt about his father anymore; just that he had hurt him. Which was always Simba's fear from the beginning.

"I just want to get out of here!" He eventually stopped to take a breath before something strange happened. He heard his name being called out by a mysterious voice. _"Kopa. Kopa," _the voice whispered. Of course he followed it. And it led him to an area now known as Hakuna Matata Falls.

**_ To Be Continued in Chapter 15..._**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Previously on The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands: **_

"I just want to get out of here!" He eventually stopped to take a breath before something strange happened. He heard his name being called out by a mysterious voice. _"Kopa. Kopa," _the voice whispered. Of course he followed it. And it led him to an area now known as Hakuna Matata Falls.

_**Now:**_

The whispering eventually stopped. That confused the young cub. Kopa then noticed a strange glowing light coming from behind the waterfall. He walked up a winding path that led behind the falls which brought him upon a strange-looking circular stone attached to the rocky wall. It was covered with strange markings and a very pretty shiny emerald rock in the center.

Just looking at it was seemingly beckoning the child. He got up on his hind legs and leaned on the wall with his front legs, placing his mouth on the strange object and after a few struggles, he managed to pull it out of the wall. The ground suddenly then began to rumble and the emerald started to glow while at the same time releasing green-colored energy which began to swirl as it grew bigger. Kopa's eyes widened when he realized what was happening.

He had only heard about the phenomenon in legends told by Rafiki by a nice nighttime campfire. But he never actually believed it to be real.

He was in the presence of a magical portal of some kind.

And if things couldn't get any weirder than they already were, rocks and broken branches and dead flowers and everything around him began to float. Like, in the freaking air! Once in the freaking air, they would seemingly get sucked through the center of the portal and then vanish without a trace. The prince's entire body would soon be next. The hairs on his body stood up as the young cub felt a weird feeling in his stomach as his legs ascended into the air along with his stomach and then his head promptly after until the entire lion was floating.

"WHAT THE-. HELP! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! HELP!"

But the cries of the flying cub's cries were useless as everyone in the area had already gone far away or to sleep or they just didn't give a shit. And even if someone "came to the rescue", they wouldn't believe what they were seeing and pass out or something. The entire lower body of Kopa was utterly consumed by the magic of the portal, the sensation feeling as if he was passing through really warm jello. He tried to hold back with his claws, but his chest and soon his head was being overwhelmed by the portal too much that it even broke a claw in the process.

"PLEASE! I HAVE TO GO BACK! HELP!" His head was the only thing that was left of his anything. And before anything else, he yelled one final word.

"DADDY!"

And all that Kopa could now see was endless green. He looked down to see that he was still floating, but as if he was floating in water. Everything around him was as I said, green, but the walls were all jiggly and the floor seemed bottomless. It was like being trapped in an anti-gravity room made of green pudding. The wall to his right began to swirl and the cub couldn't believe what he was seeing: it was a memory.

A memory of the fight that he and his father had just had before he ran off. But he also saw what happened afterward. How much hurt he had caused his dad and how much he had cried before the memory came to a swirly stop as a tear escaped from Kopa's eye.

A feeling then began to grow from his genitals to his stomach to his chest. A feeling of pure pain and a side of tingling that one would feel on a roller coaster.

He was too young for the feeling to be considered "normal" so he automatically knew that something very wrong was happening. But then a bright light coming from under his feet blinded Kopa for a few seconds before he could see that something was happening to him. Some sort of green energy, similar to what created the portal and what it was made of, began absorbing his legs and that's when the pain grew stronger. Like some sort of magic spell. He could feel his legs changing in some way.

And then the energy swirled up to his chest and then his head and then his mind began spinning and he felt lightheaded and then ...darkness.

_HONK! HONK! _Kopa's eyes fluttered open to a leaf in his face. When he got his full vision restored, it was clear that he was laying in a bush. But why? Something didn't feel right. He tried to stand up only to discover that there was something creepily weird about his body. And no, not in a dirty way. My mind isn't _always _in the gutter.

The long, furry legs that he once had were not the same. They were short, and all of his furs had disappeared. Instead, there was some sort of light-colored hippo skin on his legs with 5 monkey-like toes also covered in said-skin. His paws had disappeared and his front legs had grown as long as Rafiki's arms with 5 fingers as well and his chest was...well you get the picture. His entire head felt different as proven by the lack of fur on his face but a little tuft left on the top of his head.

The once-was lion cub was completely bare. He could not believe it. What the hell had happened to him? What was he? _Where _was he!? He was clearly not in the Pride Lands anymore.

The hairs covering his private parts were also gone, exposing them to the whole world. He shrieked when he realized that and tried to hide behind an even bigger leaf when he heard an unfamiliar voice coming from outside of the bush. "If we finish with the kitchen area by tonight, the entire house should be done for you by Saturday, Mrs. Garcia." "Well, I sure hope so. My aunt and I are supposed to see a new movie called Carrie that's in theaters next week." And since walking wasn't an option, he used his long...arms to crawl out of the bush to see a weird looking structure in front of him that looked to be made of a tree and two tall hairless baboons, one male, and one female.

He tried to call out to them, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was some kind of weird shriek. He wasn't capable of talking either apparently.

But the shrill he had made proved useful as it got the two baboons' attention and when they both laid eyes on him, their mouths dropped and they ran up to him immediately. "OH, MY GOD! A BABY!" I mean Kopa knew he was still young but he didn't think others would still take him as a "baby". He preferred the term "young cub".

The female bent down and grabbed him by his ...arms and picked him up from the ground. He, at first, didn't like it but the way she was rubbing his back and rocking him back and forth really felt great and relaxing. When Kopa got close enough, the baboon looked more clear to him. She didn't have any fur as well, and she also had the skin he now had, but a little bit wrinklier. Her lips were drenched in some kind of red liquid, blood he at first thought, and some weird object with clear objects in its holes mounted in a frame that held them in front of her blue eyes, utilizing a bridge over her nose and long sticks which rested over her ears. And she smelled of apples and another weird yet captivating aroma.

"Where did this baby come from?" "I couldn't tell you, Mrs. Garcia. We've never seen this baby even a hundred feet near the construction site. We have no idea where he came from."

Kopa had no idea what the two baboons were conversing about. But for some strange reason, he grew sleepy and had the urge to crawl around on the floor and play with the rocks as he did as an infant. Which I guess he was now. Again. And the fatigue took over his entire body like some kind of parasite and eventually got his eyelids to feel as if he was carrying an elephant in each one. His vision became obscured and before he knew it, he was in a deeper sleep than Sleeping Beauty herself.

When he awakened, not by true love's kiss but by a lot of loud noises, he found himself in some sort of weird blue rectangular shaped chamber and he was in a weird wooden cage with a fluffy white thing against his head and the longest, softest piece of fur that he had ever felt covering his entire body and the majority of the cage as well. Words could still not be formed by him. It was like his tongue was dried out or torn out or something. Small squeals were the only thing his mouth was capable of releasing.

The female baboon ran into the chamber, her entire body covered in some kind of red material that went all the way down to her knees, and picked Kopa up from his cage and did the relaxing back-and-forth rocking again. But he didn't have time to enjoy it; he needed answers to everything. He continuously tried to say something but he couldn't. It really pissed him off at the fact that he couldn't speak. "Are you trying to say your first words?" Kopa tried harder and harder and he _FINALLY _made progress when he began to pronounce the word "my". The attempted talking widened the baboon's eyes as he continued vigorously attempting to speak to her.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-my n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-name i-i-i-i-i-i-i-is K-k-k-k-k-k-k-Kopa," he finally managed to say. But the choice of words was really poor. He could've said anything else like _Where am I _or _What are you _but all he said was a formal introduction of himself. "AAAAAAAHH! YOU JUST SPOKE," she shouted as she spun around in circles with Kopa imprisoned in her arms, making him dizzy to the point where he felt like throwing up. "I've never heard a baby say that as their first words, but we all see something new every day." He cringed at the word _baby_.

"Aah," she sighed with a strangely reassuring affection in her eyes. "Such a special moment. 'My name is Kopa'. Wait," she suddenly said, her eyes beaming with glee and joy. "That is what I'll call you: Kopa. Well, _Kopa_, I'm sure your mother and father will be thrilled to hear the good news. Wherever they may be. I just can't believe they would dump an adorable and innocent child like you in a dump like where my house is being built," she began to say before Kopa couldn't even listen anymore after he heard the word "father". It got him thinking about his own. What he must be feeling now that his son was nowhere to be found. How much he missed him. How much he loved him. And that triggered his waterworks and a couple of whimpers as well. "Aw. Don't you cry, little one. We'll get you back to your parents as soon as the police find them. But look on the bright side: until then, you get to stay here with me," she squealed all happily and excitedly and it actually began to cheer him up a little.

It even got him to start giggling once she started giving him kisses on his neck.

"No matter what, I promise you: I will never stop loving you, and caring for you." Kopa's head nuzzled in the cups of one of her breasts as he started to adjust to the idea of staying with this baboon for a while. And he felt something that he had only felt with his parents: love. Somehow, he cared for her as much as she cared for him. And she cared for him A LOT. And for the longest time, it was always Kopa and the baboon named Mrs. Garcia.

* * *

Over the years, as Kopa grew and prospered, he had learned a lot about where he was. And what he was. He was somewhere called "El Paso". Whatever that meant. But he learned that it was a city in the United States. And after he learned what that meant, things went smoothly. He clearly wasn't in the Pride Lands anymore. And when he learned to talk, which was when he was about six years old (I know it was a little late) he tried to tell Mrs. Garcia, who was called a "human", about where he actually came from and who his father was, and then he ended up seeing the same man in white named Mr. Aria over and over again. He constantly told him that the Pride Lands weren't real when he clearly knew that they were.

He also saw a woman in white sometimes about "a weird birthmark" when Kopa knew that they were spots on his legs from his lion form; the only things that stuck from his original body. But other than that, his life as a "human" was great. Every snowy season, all of Mrs. Garcia's human family members, like Auntie Latsy and Uncle Hector who he secretly favored the most, came over to celebrate him in something called a birthday. And a few weeks after, the whole family would celebrate something called Christmas where everyone received gifts that seemed useless to a lion, but he adjusted and was grateful for whatever he was given. There were also a bunch of other things that he and Mrs. Garcia would celebrate every year like Thanksgiving and Halloween that Kopa looked forward to all the time those "holidays" crept around the corner.

The now-human with chestnut hair and muscles like steel attended someplace called school where he would learn about all sorts of crazy stuff. Except there were no hunting or kingly lessons involved like what his dad was teaching him. Kopa made lots of new friends too. Like Ricky and Hazel. His bestest friend though was named Vanessa, a shy girl with long black hair and a few pimples on her face and amber-colored glasses. She had the face of an angel and a pure heart of gold in his opinion.

She and him met in the eighth grade in science class, and they never left each other's side since. And they did everything together. They ate lunch together, they talked and played occasionally with each other, _EVERYTHING_.

The two of them even graduated high school in the same category and went to college together. There was nowhere you would find one of them without the other. Their friendship was inextricable.

And it became even more serious when they became boyfriend and girlfriend. Finally. They were each other's first romantic partner ever. And they were both 27! A little late if you ask me. Their first date was at _Music Under The Stars_ where they both shared their first kiss which was basically a bunch of weird lip-moving and Vanessa biting Kopa's lip and causing it to bleed which led them to have to leave to get it treated. But all the dates after that were more romantic and actually succeeded. There was just this magic between them that they couldn't explain. It was as if they were fated to be together. Sparks flew every time they touched, hence Taylor Swift's famous song.

Things only became more magical the evening of October 24th a few years later.

"Will you be my queen," he asked Vanessa as he knelt down on one knee, while they were on a date in Paris underneath the Eiffel Tower at night, and pulled out a diamond ring that Mrs. Garcia gave him from her previous marriage. He had worked up a lot of nerve to "propose" as the humans say. He just knew that she was the one. No God or earthly being could explain why. He just knew. And after asking his friends for advice, watching romantic proposals on the internet, and getting Mrs. Garcia's blessing along with a ring to present, he invited her to come to Paris, a city he understood to be the most romantic place ever. Little did Vanessa know that her man would turn her whole world upside down. She began crying tears of joy and squealing while jumping up and down when she saw that the man she loved the most since middle school wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"Van, I've realized that there will never be a more perfect girl for me. And now that I've found her, I see no reason to wait any longer. I have loved you since we shared our first ice cream back in the eighth grade, to right now where we're in freaking Paris, the city of love. I never want to lose you because I don't think I'll ever find a girl that'll make me as happy as you do. So, Vanessa Lea Brown, will you marry me?"

She cupped her hands around her mouth in amazement at the little speech her love had just given her about how special she is to him. She had never thought she'd meet someone who loved her like those television couples that we ship in movies love each other, like Troy and Gabriella in _High School Musical_ and Tessa and Hardin in _After_.

Her voice was a little shaky and high-pitched, but it didn't take long for her to say "yes."

Their love was so ecstatic and passionate that they didn't even do a wedding; they just went for it. They did that thing where a couple goes to a courthouse and the judge marries them or something. But that part didn't make the cut because it was just too boring to describe in any detail whatsoever. The kiss they shared as they were pronounced husband and wife was pretty magical though. Like a fire was ignited inside both of them. And they loved it.

The two love-birds eventually settled in a two-story house a few neighborhoods away from Mrs. Garcia. She was very happy that she would get to see him every now and then now that he lived closer to her. Everything from then on was perfect. The house was perfect. Their love was perfect. The baby Vanessa was going to have was perfect and…

Wait.

_**To Be Continued in Chapter 16**_


	16. Chapter 16

_Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Kopa broke into a sweat. His heart pounded, and his hand began to feel clammy against his bouncing knee. The very act of even trying to process what he was just told was messing with his mind, and his heart was still threatening to burst forth from his ribcage. And all after his loving, caring wife's mouth made the words "I'm pregnant." At first, he thought she was joking. He didn't even know humans could have children until that one surprisingly disturbing class he was forced to take in high school.

But...Father?

The very concept just made him want to burst out into laughter. But he couldn't because he knew that Vanessa was being serious, and how she always talked about how much she's wanted a child since eighth grade, preferably a daughter with curly red hair.

"So," she asked curiously after seeing her husband's expression. "So," he answered back kind of awkwardly and in a high-pitched tone. "What do you think?"

What was he going to tell her? He didn't have the first clue as to how to be a father. His own father wasn't really great at it but he was still loving and always there for him and definitely worthy of winning a dad-of-the-year contest. But Kopa himself? He'd be eliminated just for showing up to auditions. And he also had doubts clouding all of the positive thoughts he had about having a baby, things like if the child wouldn't like him or if something bad were to happen to them on his account.

Little did he know, like father like son.

His eyes narrowed down to her stomach where the baby..._his _baby was currently developing for a few moments before he noticed that he was crying. Actual tears. From his eyeballs. And it didn't take long for his wife to take notice of it. "Baby, are you okay?" He didn't know exactly how to respond to that so he just made up a random excuse to get out of it. "Yeah, I-I'm fine. It's just that, um, I-I-I have this...friend. And his dog recently became pregnant. He was so very happy about, um, Nessa, his dog, having puppies. But he was also unsure of whether or not he was capable of having puppies. He didn't know if the puppies would like him or if he was ready to take care of them. But one thing he was sure of was that he would love them no matter what." Vanessa just sat there with a confused yet happy look on her face. She scooted closer to him and locked her right arm along his left. "And would this friend happen to be named Kopa?"

"What gave me away?" "You are a terrible liar. You always stutter and look around the room when you do it. Literally, if you killed somebody and was asked if you did it, you would be convicted in under 7 seconds," she snickered as he looked at her with hearts in his eyes. It was true: he did do all of those things when he lied and was terrible at doing it. But only she took the time to notice it. It was one of the things he loved about her. How she noticed all the little things in a person. Like how she knew that Greg Allen was cheating on a test back in high school because of his repetitive bathroom breaks, or how Mindy Rose was lip-synching during a talent show because of the lack of muscle movement in her throat. She really had a knack for it. But back to what was most important: the baby.

"But you are also a kind, loyal, extremely handsome human being whose nicest to even the smallest of creatures. Like that time at the park where you stopped a three-year-old from stepping on an ant." "Hey! In my defense, ants are living things too. They don't deserve to just be squashed as if they were nothing. They're a big part of the circle of life too you know! Or are they? I don't know; my father never really got too much into detail."

She dressed her face with a sweet smirk at her husband's remark and laughed for a little bit. "You see? You're respectful of everything around us no matter the size. And you give very good life lessons even when you don't mean to. You, my good sir, have all the qualities of a good father whether you like it or not." His hand began caressing her leg soon after before it traveled to her stomach where he knew there was a baby growing.

All the pain and regret that was felt by him was no longer there. Every negative feeling was wrapped up in a cocoon and soon emerged as a blossomed positive feeling. Kopa even felt very excited about having a child that he could raise and teach all by himself. Well, not technically because without Vanessa, he'd be one disaster of a dad. She'd literally be the only thread holding him up during the process.

But then what she brought up next killed all of his happiness. "Speaking about what you said a minute ago, you never really talk about your dad that much. Do you remember anything about him? Like, what he was like or where he might be right now?"

Silence.

"Um..." "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I completely understand." But after all that they've been through, he felt like she deserved to know the truth. "No. I actually do want to talk about it." He turned to face his wife and intertwined his fingers with hers as he took a deep breath. "Now, before I begin, what I'm about to say is kind of hard to believe and may sound a little crazy. But I trust you to believe me okay?"

"Baby, no matter what you say I will always believe you. Because I know that you don't lie or make things up." "Okay. I am...not an actual human." Vanessa just sat there with a neutral expression just as Kopa feared she would. "W-w-what do you mean?" "What I mean is that I am not from this world. I once used to be a lion. I lived somewhere called the Pride Lands and was the son of the king, Simba. _He_ was my dad and we had an argument before I ran away and then I found this weird-looking rock that began to glow and before I knew it I woke up as a baby in El Paso. Mrs. Garcia found me and took me in and when I learned to talk she kept on taking me to see a psychiatrist after I tried telling her what I'm telling you now. More than once."

She acted like she believed what he was telling her, but deep down he knew that she thought he should be locked away in a nuthouse. "And um, Kopa, I do believe what you're saying but it is a little hard to, I'll admit," she said quietly before an idea popped up in her head. "Wait. Did your home have hyenas and was taken over by an evil lion named Scar after he killed his brother, Mufasa?"

That question basically summed up everything that he knew about the Pride Lands' past and how his father ascended to become the king. How the fuck did she know all of that? It was astronomically impossible for her to even know a tiny fact about the kingdom because everyone else denied its existence and it didn't show up when he googled it. "Exactly. Van, how do you know all of this?" She released her fingers and placed her hands on his shoulders, the tension in her fingers squeezing against the muscle in them.

"Because that is the plot of _The Lion King_."

As Rafiki lifted Simba and Nala's newborn cub in the air as the ending title card appeared on the television screen, Kopa's jaw was practically on the floor. Everything about his father and his history and his home was a movie?! How is that even possible? How did people get the exact facts and information along with his friends' and family's names and features? If the Pride Lands were supposedly nonexistent, how the hell did people manage to make a movie about it? Not only that, they managed to make _THREE _movies about it. Some of the events in the last two films' stories didn't even happen as far as Kopa remembered. He didn't recall having a sister named Kiara or none of that other shit. Nor did he recall his father telling him about how he went over a waterfall as a cub and was barely saved by Pumbaa while Timon just comically continued falling. I mean the events in the supposed _Lion King 1 ½ _could be true as Simba never really liked to talk about his childhood that much. But how did the movie people get that information even if it is true? Heavy loads of questions were dumped on the soon-to-be-father while his wife just stood inches away from him on the phone. Not talking to a psychiatrist. No way. "He's been sitting here for three hours without talking and I'm just worried that this background story might be messing with his mind."

I stand corrected.

Kopa grabbed the remote and shut the TV off, then immediately rushed to him and Vanessa's bedroom to grab his laptop. Once acquired, he placed it on his lap, unlocked it, and logged into his google account. When the search bar popped up, he typed in "Pride Lands" and he got a bunch of results, unlike the zero results he got when he did the exact same thing years ago. Some articles were useful and others just seemed like bogus bologna. All the descriptive details used in the useful articles were on point from Pride Rock to even the smallest watering hole. His mind was baffled at what he was reading and seeing. But everything he read wasn't exactly what he needed to answer all his questions.

He exited all the tabs and started his search again. This time he typed in "Lion King human transformation." Nothing. "Lion King Simba son." Nothing. "How to transport to the Pride Lands." Can you guess what Kopa found this time? ….Nothing. It was starting to get frustrating. It seemed like all hope was lost until he searched up one more thing: "magic rock with symbols and emerald center." And a link actually did come up. He clicked on it and it brought him to a website with a very familiar picture on the desktop. It was an exact image of the rock he encountered that brought him to the human world.

And a very long article rested below it that was written a decent while ago.

"It's been almost 43 years since my search for this artifact began. I first heard of it through a vacation in Africa. I was examining and taking photos of a pride of lions when I noticed a strange cave in the corner of my eye. I walk into the cave and I see a bunch of hieroglyphics that told the legend of a magical stone that held unimaginable power that could even be used for universal domination, and how it was hidden from an apparently evil entity that took the form of a lioness made of purple fire." It was a goldmine of information. But not enough yet, so he continued reading. The article said things like how the cave vanished without a trace when the author went to go show his friends and how he spent decades of research searching for it until he finally acquired a ripped out book page in the archives of a bookstore located in El Paso, Texas with the information he sought about the legend.

"There wasn't much due to the page looking as old as time itself, all withered, crumpled and stained, but I did notice one thing: markings. There were markings on the very bottom of the paper with what looked like coordinates, 35.0078° N, 97.0929° W, and a message: 'Ninakuita, wafalme wakuu wakuu wa zamani, na ninaomba nguvu yako iwe huru mwisho. Nipeleke mahali ninapotamani, ili ukweli ndio ninaoweza kujifunza.' After putting that into google translate, it said: I call onto you, mighty great kings of the past, and beg for your power to be free at last. Take me to where I yearn, so that the truth is what I may learn."

Kopa continued reading on and on about how the coordinates led the guy to someplace called Oklahoma and what he continued to do next. "I was led to a small house on Agnes Ave when all of a sudden-."

But then the article just suddenly stopped. Like there was no more left to read. "What?" How could there not be more written? It was clear to Kopa that the article was meant to be continued but it wasn't. He sensed that there was something wrong. He searched up the article's author, Terry Herrera, and what he saw next made him jump out of his skin.

_**LOCAL RESIDENT DIES IN TRAGIC HOUSE FIRE.**_

It said that this man, Mr. Herrera, was sadly killed in a fire that mysteriously burned his entire house down. Witnesses claimed that they heard the man shouting to himself moments before _purple _fire was reported coming from his kitchen window which then, after 7 seconds, turned to normal orange and red.

Woah.

Kopa tried to find out more about this man and his whereabouts when all of a sudden he heard something. It was like an angel was singing. A voice was being heard in the distance. It was like he was being called. He followed the voice which triggered his wife's curiosity as she began to follow him. "Baby, w-what are you doing?" "Just, hold on, Vanessa. Do you hear that?" "Hear what?" And shortly after is when an aroma filled his nostrils. A scent that he recognized...as gas. _Flammable _gas. His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. He grabbed his wife by her arms as he rushed out of the door and fell over into their lawn, his wife just shortly falling on top of him as the house combusted into flames...and exploded.

Debris flew everywhere, destroying their car and their flower bushes and alerting some of the neighbors who soon got on the phone with the fire department. But putting everything else aside, Kopa noticed that the fire that blew up their home was purple before it became orange and red, mirroring the fire that witnesses claimed killed Terry Herrera and his home. He came to the conclusion that everything that happened in the last hour was no coincidence. Somehow he and Mr. Herrera were connected somehow. It soon became clear that whatever voice was calling him was the reason for the house exploding and nearly killing him, his wife, and their unborn child.

The now-normal-colored fire lit up the night sky as people were woken up by the sirens of firetrucks parking near the scene. While those men took their giant hose and began putting out the fire, Kopa sat on the firetruck with his sobbing wife on his shoulder staring blankly into space with his mouth open, oceans of drool escaping onto the concrete. Their lives would never be the same after that. But boy if only Kopa knew how much of what happened and what would happen in the future would change the life of his child forever. "B-b-b-b-baby, I-I-I-I d-d-d-d-don't f-f-f-f-f-feel safe anymore," a terrified Vanessa whispered into her husband's ear. And neither did hear. After what just happened to them, it was clear that someone, or some_thing_, wanted them dead. But he wouldn't let them get the chance to try again. But he also still needed to continue his research on the magic stone he was reading about. And Vanessa obviously didn't want them to stay there anymore.

_DING!_

A lightbulb suddenly went off in his head. A plan that would solve both his and her problems and suit both of their current needs. He gently stroked the stream of tears off her face and looked her in the eyes. "Van, do you want to move from here?" "YES! THAT IS THE BEST IDEA I'VE HEARD MY WHOLE LIFE! But where?" He smacked his lips and looked into the sky for a few moments before locking eyes with her again.

"How does Oklahoma sound?"

_**To Be Continued in Chapter 17**_

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

**Hi guys. I would first like to apologize for taking almost a month to upload this new chapter. I was just as anxious writing it as you guys have been waiting for it to come out. But here it is! Finally. I would also like to note that the next chapter after this is the last one on Kopa and his backstory. I know you all want to get back to Dylan's side of the story after he meets his father unexpectedly, and you will after the next chapter is released. Even I want to get back to writing about that and find out what all my characters are up to. So anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the next one, but bear with me as you have no idea how hard it is to write an amazing story like this. Have a nice rest of your day!**

**-DBROWN13**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Previously on The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands:**_

A lightbulb suddenly went off in his head. A plan that would solve both his and her problems and suit both of their current needs. He gently stroked the stream of tears off her face and looked her in the eyes. "Van, do you want to move from here?" "YES! THAT IS THE BEST IDEA I'VE HEARD MY WHOLE LIFE! But where?" He smacked his lips and looked into the sky for a few moments before locking eyes with her again.

"How does Oklahoma sound?"

_**Now:**_

The rain came steady and cold against the windshield and rattled on the roof of the car as Kopa finally, after 10 long, grueling hours, drove past the tattered, blue sign that read "_**Welcome to Oklahoma: Discover The Excellence**_" as his edgy and highly-strung wife slouched in her seat, staring blankly out the window, not having said a word since what had happened to them back in El Paso. They were lucky Mrs. Garcia lent them her old car to use on their drive. It was just weird to the soon-to-be-father about the silence that filled their vehicle because usually, she was all bubbly and full of joy and usually very, very talkative like Kelly Clarkson on her talk show. But ever since they barely escaped death, it was as if he didn't even recognize the woman sitting in front of him. I mean she _looked _just like a woman that he once knew and married, but at the same time she lacked all of the traits and characteristics that shaped that same person. The incident back home had really taken a part of Vanessa that was one of the main reasons Kopa fell in love with her in the first place. He longed for that part of her to return: all of the frequent conversations about random things, their constant arguments about whose favorite singer is the best, her gushing about how great of a day she had when he had the shittiest day ever, etc. But he could already tell that things were never going to be the same again. Not after what had happened. She was officially a stranger to him.

And their "luck" just got even luckier when their engine began to stall and smoke started rising from the hood, which startled Vanessa as it reminded her of her near-death experience very vividly. Faint smell of gas? ✓. Smoke? ✓. All that was missing was for their vehicle to explode. "Aaaaaaah," she whimpered as she hid her head in her pink, tear-stained, boat neck T-shirt while Kopa pulled off and found a place to park and wait awhile for the radiator to cool before he put in some fresh fluid from the trunk, but also as a way for him to attempt to calm her down. And given her current state, it would be as easy as winning a race against Usain Bolt. "Baby, baby, baby, calm down. Everything's gonna be okay," he whispered to her as calmly as he possibly could. She immediately stopped her panic attack and looked directly into his dilated pupils, giving him this death stare that honestly sent a shiver up his spine. His wife had never given him such a horrifying glance in the history of their relationship.

"Okay? OKAY! WE LOST OUR HOUSE, WE ALMOST DIED, AND THINGS HAVE BEEN SO '_okay_' SINCE THEN THAT WE NOW HAVE TO MOVE AWAY FROM OUR HOME TO A STATE THAT I-I-I DON'T EVEN REALLY KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT! SO DON'T YOU DARE THINK FOR A SECOND THAT YOU CAN JUST TRY TO LIGHTEN THE MOOD OF ONE OF THE MOST TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES OF MY ENTIRE LIFE OKAY DR. TRACY!," Vanessa roared into Kopa's face, probably deafening him in the process. The next few moments were spent in absolute and complete silence before she had gotten a grip on what had just escaped from her mouth. Before she had the chance to say something, Kopa had already gotten out of the car to go and fix their engine. "_I've never seen her like this before," _he thought to himself. "_And why'd she call me Dr. Tracy?_" Things were going so well between the two of them up until then. He just didn't understand her at that point. Tears even began to unintentionally well up in his eyes as he got done fixing up their car and closing the hood.

That's when he saw his wife hovering over him like a plane hovered over the runway before making a smooth landing. And she did indeed make a smooth landing, by bending down on her knees so that she and her husband were eye-to-eye. "Kopa, I-. I don't even know what to say. I never should have thrashed out at you like that. It was a real dumb move and...I'm sorry," she began to say as she caressed her arms as if she was standing in -100° weather. Her eyes then began to slowly drift away from his and before they could wander any further, he gently grasped her chin and cupped her cheeks with his calming, safe, and loving hands. Kopa took a good glance into Vanessa's eyes and it just reminded him of how he looked at her the first time back in eighth grade and how it made him feel.

Sometimes he liked to go out at night. He sat in the garden and looked at the sky and it reminded him so much of her eyes. It seemed as deep, as true, as welcoming although mysterious as her eyes. And he liked to lose himself in the image of looking right into the depth of her soul. They could shine as bright as the sun, when she laughed and let warm healing rain fall down onto your heart, when she softly smiled at you. But even the sky, interrupted by the stars and enlightened by the moon, with all it's beauty could only come close to the sight of her beautiful, hazel eyes.

"Van, there is _**nothing **_to apologize for. I never should've tried to make things better like you said; because they're not. We're moving out of our hometown and there's really nothing we can do about it. And believe me it's as hard for me as it is for you. After all I was in that house with you too." "Yes, you were. And you saved us. All three of us," she gently whispered as she rubbed her stomach. "Baby can I tell you something," Vanessa asked. "Of course. You can tell me anything."

"I understand I've been a bit paranoid most of the way up here. Especially right now." "I already told you: it's not your fault." "I know, but most of the fear isn't from what happened. Now nobody else knows this yet, but you know that my father died when I was a little girl?" "Yeah. It was in that car accident. But the media and your mom said it was an accident. He tripped over the sidewalk and that truck came out of nowhere." "Well, it wasn't and he didn't." "Really? How would you even know-," he began to say to his distressed wife before she became even more distressed and shouted, "BECAUSE I WAS THERE!"

He froze. He had no idea that she was there when her father died. Now he had even more questions than he had already had before they left El Paso. But there was no point in asking because there was no doubt that she was about to explain everything.

"Me and him never really had a close relationship. He was deployed overseas for the majority of my childhood. All I could really remember was his back. But me and my mom thought, '_He's doing his job and taking part in keeping our country safe so there's really no point in complaining about him never really being there_.'"

She began nibbling at her fingernails and sniffling as if she had a really stuffy nose. Which she did, followed by a trembling chin and quivering red-stained lips.

"But when I was 7, we got a call from the police saying that my father was out on probation for attempting to rob a bank, and...we also found out that when he left and never came back it wasn't because he was deployed; that was just some cheap bullshit that he told me and my mom as an excuse to leave. He was never even in the Navy. He flunked his ASVAB multiple times. And he was completely broke _and _homeless. I kept on telling myself that he just made a really bad mistake and there was some kind of misunderstanding. But he just didn't want to be a father or a caring husband for that matter. And so after that we kinda just let him go and now he was nothing more than a torn-up photo album memory. And on the day I turned 13, he decided to show up out of nowhere and try to act like what he did never happened and wanted to be back into our lives. My mother and I were just…._argh _so pissed at him," she snarled through her bared teeth. "He then tried to defend himself for all the crap he put me and my mom through and it was just sickening. So, I cornered him and started getting all up in his face and started ranting about what he did to us and… I guess you would call what happened next an urge. I-I accidentally pushed him and that's when he tripped on a crack in the concrete and into the open road. That grandma never saw him coming. The guilt I felt as they rolled him into the ambulance-or what was left of him- was just too unbearable. I had a lot of anxiety and not even 5 different therapists could help it. So my mother moved me out of state and into El Paso. It was actually the same year you and I met."

That explained why she was so shy and socially awkward when he had first met her. And why she called him Dr. Tracy. But hearing Van ramble on about why she was so uneasy hurt his heart a little. Again, this was the first time he had heard the story that way. "And-and-and all that happened where I used to live: Oklahoma. I know you never knew that about me but it was just too hard for someone to ask where I was from and why I had moved and for me to tell the truth. I mean it's not the worst state in the country but it's just a reminder of the day I killed a man. And sure maybe he wasn't the best father in the world or the best husband or the best friend or the best anything, but he was still my father. And selfish or not, I still lay awake at night wondering if he really meant what he said to me that day about rekindling our relationship. But now he'll never get the chance to answer. And I'll never get the chance to talk to him again," she said through her ear bleeding sobbing.

It was painful to see her like this. All Kopa could do was embrace her and let the torrent of her tears soak through his shirt. He could feel her clench her fists, not knowing whether to be sad and angry or to put what she did behind her. He could hear her silently screaming, suffocating with each breath she took holding onto her pride. He ran his fingers through her hair, time and time again, in an attempt to calm the silent war within her mind. "You have to have known that it was an accident. And I understand that you might feel guilty and have a little PTSD-," he began saying before she slowly looked at him with this sort of look that said "_**LIAR.**_"

"-Ok, a lot of PTSD, and you might feel angry about the past but the past is the past and there's nothing you can do. Now I'm not taking any sides but you should know that he's still with you no matter what. He can be this car, that cactus, even one of the clouds." Looking up at the sky, it triggered some emotional PTSD of his own. A moment he had shared with his own father. As heart wrenching as remembering it was, it opened up a potential opportunity to help out his distraught wife. "Come with me. I want to show you something," he whispered as he walked his wife over to a patch of grass, pretty much the only grass in the area and had her lay down on her back as he did the same and slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Now let _me _tell _you _something. Something that my father told me. Look up at the stars. He says that all the Great Kings of the Past look down on us from those stars and that to know that whenever we feel alone, to just know that those kings will always be up there to guide us. Now you make your father sound like _**NO **_king so let's just deem him as a fool. A royal one, and a pain-in-the-ass one for ever thinking for a second of leaving someone like you behind. But a royal pain in the ass or not, he will always be with you whenever you need him from now on. Now I know you may have needed him for the first 12 years of your childhood-," he began to say before his wife yet again interrupted him.

Only not verbally. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and said, "Can you just shut up and kiss me already?" "Um...please," he responded. And like that, she pulled his lips into a warm hug with hers and the passion they were lacking the entire car trip reignited itself into a wildfire between the two. They were back!

The rest of the drive was as pleasant as a nap in front of the fireplace. There was no more bickering and silence and after what Vanessa had gotten off her chest, there was also no more tension or awkwardness. Now she wasn't completely recovered, but she was slowly morphing back into her old self. Her talkativeness was the first thing to come back. "_Out of all the traits,_" Kopa thought to himself. "_Out of all the traits._" Kopa kept on reminding Vanessa that they didn't have to go to Oklahoma, even though that meant he couldn't learn more about the rock thing that brought him here, but she insisted that if he wanted to go, she would always be right there behind him no matter what.

Given their current situation, they weren't exactly raking in the cash financially. Instead they were barely scraping by and had flies coming out of their barren pockets. The two had to pay off their house for the month which was doubled because of it burning down and had to pay for their car which was also doubled because of it being destroyed by the house fire. Not to mention they still had to pay the doctors for every appointment they went to, the actual birth, and getting it vaccinated and all that other stuff that Kopa couldn't remember at the moment.

They were officially almost entirely broke. Which meant that they obviously couldn't buy a new house, rent an apartment, and they couldn't even afford a one-night stay at a motel. They were just lucky enough that Vanessa had a cousin that coincidentally lived in the same state that they sought to get to. If only it wasn't the one that actually lived there. "Seriously? Out of all your cousins _this _is the one we're supposed to be staying with? _**Her!?**_" "I know that Christine has a bit of a, um, sketchy past but it's already so fortunate that she's even letting us stay with her. You should be grateful. Now's not exactly the time to be picky."

Christine Aguilar. No, not Christina Aguilera. When people heard her name for the first time, they made that very same mistake as well. One of Van's 17 cousins from both sides of the family. But one of the edgier ones. She dropped out of middle school and ran away with her 18-year old "boyfriend" and no one heard from her in over 20 years. But a person fitting her description was arrested in a drug deal gone-bad near a nightclub in Santa Anna and she was brought- no- forced home by her parents after that happened. They've pretty much been hover-parents around her ever since then and demanded that she lived close to them. When you first meet her, she perpetuates the cliche emo stereotype from cheesy teen movies even though she's 39 going on 40 by staying in her room and not saying a word if she ever comes out. And that's who they were going to be temporarily staying with. Yay.

"Thanks for letting us stay here for a while, Chrissy," Vanessa told her estranged cousin, who possessed half black and half white hair, a nose ring, dark makeup, and several lip rings and earrings with a slim body figure which dawned all black clothing from head to toe. All she did was carry in one of their suitcases and they never really saw that much of her for the rest of the day. And the one after that. And after that. And after that. All for the next 3 weeks. After they zhuzhed up their bedroom and put in their homey touches, they were pretty much settled in for as long as they needed. The last thing that was set up was a pretty painting of daisies surrounded by rocks. Gazing at the stones barricading the plants reminded Kopa of the whole reason he had them move to the Sooner State: to research the whole reason for him being there.

"Um, baby I'm going to take the car out and sort of explore our neighborhood and get to know the environment so I'll be back in a couple of hours." "Ok just don't be too long. I'm making barbeque for dinner; your favorite!" "Oh, I can already taste it," he exclaimed joyously as he slowly changed his tone getting into the car. He put in the coordinates that the article he read said and put that address into Google Maps. Hopefully this was one of the days that Siri didn't suck at her job. "Hey Siri, open Maps." "Calling Pottery Barn." I guess not. Anyway, after following the directions all he came upon was a pile of broken and burnt wood covered with old police tape alongside piles of ashes on Agnes Ave. He was in the right place.

The fire really did a number on the place; there wasn't much left of the house that looked like it would help his search. He approached the disaster site and knelt down and began picking at the ash pile when he heard something coming from behind him. He jerked back and saw a middle-aged woman approaching him from across the street. "Hey. You're not supposed to be here, fella." "Forgive me but, who are you?" "Name's Valerie Lorenzo. President of the Neighborhood Watch around these parts and getting this close to this here joint is a punishable offense: 2 citations." "Um, ma'am I'm not from this neighborhood. I'm just trying to...solve a mystery in a way and that means finding out what happened to Terry Herrera." "Unless you have a warrant, I'm authorized to pull you out of here by the ear if you refuse to cooperate with me."

"But I've come such a long way. I'm only here because of some article Mr. Herrera posted online." Ms. Lorenzo seemed to stop breathing and her eyes slowly widened after what Kopa had said. The wind silently blew through her brown hair and maroon pantsuit and she still remained, well, still. "H-hello? Did I kill you or something?" "No it's just...you mean the article about some sort of rock?" "THAT'S THE ONE! How do you know about that?" She looked both ways as if she was about to cross the street and whispered, "I think you better come inside."

He did as he was told and followed the strange and suspicious woman into her surprisingly huge mansion-like bungalow before being sit down at her brown dinner table, clothed with an orange table cloth along with perfectly aligned plates and napkins which contained utensils. After about a few minutes she brought him a china cup filled to the brim with chamomile tea as if they were in an old British television show before sitting down herself. "For the record, you didn't know Terrance the way I did." "And how did you know him in the first place?"

"Ex Boyfriend. It doesn't really matter. Anyways, when I first met him he was solely attached to this expedition he planned out about finding some artifact he thinks he found in Africa and then it just mysteriously disappeared. All the time we were together, 24/7 he talked non-stop about this stupid rock. I would only get to meet the real fun side of him every now and then and that's the only side I fell for. But every other morning, afternoon and evening: the stupid rock. For the remainder of our relationship, I for some reason decided to help him on his ridiculous mission. And this is sort of where the story takes a turn. When we were on vacation in a little town in Texas called El Paso, he found this weird piece of paper in a library with what he claims was the next piece of the puzzle. And on our way back home after the treasure hunt we had that day, our car stopped in the middle of the East side of town and when Terrance went outside to flag someone down, fuck. There it was! The stone that was exactly like the sketch he had hanging on our bedroom wall. He found it in the middle of where some house was being constructed in the bushes and he was just ecstatic jumping up and down and-," she told before something she had said in her story jogged something in Kopa's memory. "I'm sorry but….you said he _found_ the rock _in _El Paso _by_ some house being built _in _the bushes?" "Yeah." "When was this exactly?" "The date? Oh hell that's burned into my memory forever; something I would never forget. Mainly 'cause Terrance also got it tattooed on his arm: November 11, 1976."

The 11th of November in '76? The exact same day Mrs. Garcia found Kopa outside her _house being built in the bushes_ where he first arrived as a human? No way. That day is also in his memory forever and he distinctly remembered there was no magic rock anywhere near him. But he was still only a baby at the time. But a child in a baby's body so he should remember something like that, right?

"Is there something wrong with that date, sir?" "Huh? Oh no. I was just wondering. So what happened next?" Valerie chugged her cup of tea, giving her a bit of a tea mustache, before continuing on with her story. "After he found that rock, he tried to go and show it to all the local museums and to some of his friends that were in Africa with him but they turned him away, laughing and calling him crazy. So he wrote that article that you seem to have read, except he was a bit of a credit-hog so he left my name out of it, to try and see if someone out there believed his story or had more information but it lay dormant on the internet for quite some time. It seemed like I was finally going to get the fun side of him back. But over time, he slowly began to drift away from me. He became more estranged and even moved out of the bedroom and slept on the uncomfortable couch. We'd then start getting complaints from the neighbors saying that he'd be yelling to himself in the middle of the night and would sometimes break stuff in our house. Then one afternoon, he instructed me to leave with the stupid rock and never look back otherwise 'she' would hurt me. He practically forced me into the car and he just seemed so pale and scared as I drove away with that rock in the front seat. Only for some reason, he had broken it in half and only sent me with one half of it. I knew there was something strange and suspicious going on and that's when I saw firetrucks and police cars racing to our house, which had combusted into flames. The officers said that Terrance must have gone ballistic and set the house on fire as a suicide attempt and that it had worked because his charcoaled corpse was being rolled into the coroner's van." Her voice began to crack and become shaky when she mentioned her ex-boyfriend's death. "I am so sorry for your loss, Ms. Lorenzo. I read about that fire too and that's one of the reasons that I came here to do research. My house burned down too in an eerily similar way and I thought that maybe I would find some connection down here." "And did you?" "Not yet. Anyways, did you know what became of that rock you and him found in Texas?" "That damn thing? I keep the little bastard locked upstairs. There's no use for it anymore but it was Terry's lifework and I need to respect it no matter how weird it was." SO SHE HAD IT WITH HER!? WELL MOST OF IT AT LEAST!? This just made Kopa's job a whole lot easier but if it's a relic Valerie cherished, getting it from her _wouldn't_ be easy. But he needed answers to the questions his mind kept on asking him so he had to try. "Well, Ms. Lorenzo, it is very good news that you still have at least half of this artifact in possession because that is exactly what I am here for." "Ahem. What? Who the hell are you even? Really should've asked before I invited you in my house." "I'm, uh, um, David Owen, and I'm an investigative reporter for the Oklahoma Historical Society. We've been following this story for quite some time and have been looking for this stone you seem to have locked upstairs. We deeply apologize for turning your ex away but those employees are long gone and the new set of researchers have great interest in you and Terry's discovery."

"Phhhht. You honestly expect me to believe that bullshit?" "The reward for turning in the stone is $3400 in cash." "Let me go get the key," Valerie immediately shouted as her perspective immediately shifted. Kopa's plan was actually working! Valerie was going to give him half of the stone that brought him here! Not exactly all he came here for but still! Except he didn't have $3400 to give to her right now. That's okay; he'll just say the payment will come in the following week. Which it wouldn't because he still wouldn't have the money by then but she didn't know that, and what she didn't know won't kill her. Right?

She descended from her carpeted staircase with an old, rusty safe in one hand, and a weird-looking key in the other. She placed the safe on the table and used the key to unlock it, the door slowly creaking open to reveal exactly what Kopa had been searching for: the stone. It looked exactly like he remembered from the strange markings engraved all around it, to the emerald-green gem in the center. Except it appeared a little more old and eroded than the last time he saw it and it was broken in half but that didn't matter; what mattered is that he managed to retrieve it. Well, half of it. Mission complete!

"Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Lorenzo," he said as he walked out the door with the half in hand. "Oh, please call me Valerie." "Well, _Valerie _you should receive your payment within the next week or so." "Thank you very much, Mr. Owen." "_Oh no, thank YOU,_" he thought in his mind as he walked towards his car.

At long last, he had half of the rock! But...now what? Kopa did have the rock, still only half of it, but he had no idea what to do with it or how to work it. He closely examined it to see if there were any instructions but nope. "Damn." He tried to vaguely remember what he did the last time he used it but something else piqued his curiosity. He knew the rock must have somehow been transported to the Watu world when he was and that's where Terry Herrera found it, but what made him so unhinged following his retrieving of it and what did he mean when he said that "she" would hurt Valerie the day he died? Who's "she"?

That question haunted him for the next 9 months. He didn't tell Vanessa about the rock and what he thinks might've happened to him when he was still a lion because she was still struggling to believe the story he told her about where he really came from. So he just kept the rock hidden away in their house. He tried to forget all about it and life went on normally soon after. They still went grocery shopping as usual, they went to their monthly doctor's appointment to check up on the baby as usual and everything else that went on in their life resumed as if nothing had changed until the morning of November 17th, 2007. The day that their child was born.

Kopa's face fell faster than a corpse in cement boots at the first sight of his child after it was born, Vanessa laying in a hospital bed out of breath and crying both tears of pain and happiness after 12 hours of excruciatingly painful labor. It was a healthy baby boy. In that instant Kopa's skin became greyed, his mouth hung with lips slightly parted and his eyes were as wide as they could stretch. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Garcia: it's a boy," one of the doctors clothed in baby blue scrubs said as she held their baby in her arms and took it to wash it after the umbilical cord was cut. Soon after the room and halls were filled with the echoing screams coming from the newborn as he was washed and wrapped in a flannel blanket with both pink and blue stripes in the center. What everyone else in the room saw was a baby, but what Kopa saw was a miracle sent from heaven, a blessing, and a joy that would sure brighten even the darkest of days throughout his life no matter what. As soon as the baby was able to open his eyes, the first thing he saw was his father's stunned and tearful face. Normally what the child sees first is its mother, but he was still being prepped to be given back to her and Kopa was the closest person he could lay eyes on.

The cries soon morphed into cooing as the baby was given to Vanessa and then into silence as he started to breastfeed. Kopa slowly walked over to the child and his wife and knelt down on his knees before slowly petting his head. "Look at what we created. He's the best thing that's ever happened to us, babe," she said as she looked down on their child. And her husband couldn't do anything but agree with her. It still didn't even seem real. He was officially a father! But if he was so happy about it then why did he still feel like something was missing? Probably because something _was_ missing: _his _father. He still thought about him every day, more that day than ever.

But all he could do was remember his dad and all the good moments they spent together and focus on the beautiful boy that was right in front of him. For now at least. "Ok, so all the documents seem to be signed and in place but there's no name on the birth certificate," the doctor told the happy couple, sort of ruining the moment. "Right. So, what should we name this little munchkin?" "You know what? I've thought about this for a long time and even though I've thought of some names of my own, I think we should name him after your father," Kopa told Van as he stopped caressing the baby and moved down to her hand. "What?" "Think about it. You only seem to remember him from a really bad time in your life, so why not see him in a different light and remember him every time you look at this cute, little face as a reminder that he's still with you and that you won't always remember him from one bad time?" He did have a valid point. And Van loved it when he did those poignant cliche speeches that seemed like they were ripped from some cheesy romance movie. But they weren't; they were real life original thoughts which made her love him even more.

She planted a kiss on his cheek before agreeing to his decision to have the baby named after her father. The doctor wrote down the name and gave them the green light for a successful delivery, completed documents, and for them to be able to leave whenever they see fit. And from that day forward, Vanessa and Kopa Garcia had a precious son named Dylan.

"Butterflies have wings, so they can fly. Fish have gills, so they can swim. Bunnies have four legs, so they can run. I have a heart, so I can love you."

Love always seemed like an abstract concept. Like something you would only find in a fairytale and never in real life. Kopa always wondered if he would ever feel that for someone throughout his life. But in his time as a human he's found real love with not one not two but _three_ people: Mrs. Garcia, Vanessa, and now Dylan. His love for them was like an invisible elastic band. No matter how far they went, they were connected. And his love for his son only grew stronger as he began to slowly grow up. And feeling all those feelings for three years was an absolute dream come true. Kopa would rock his son to sleep and sing him the same lullaby every night: the love song he heard on the movie the humans somehow made about his dad's life but he modified it so it would sound more like a lullaby and not a love song. For some reason, Dylan loved it when his father put on the cherry cologne he got for his anniversary with his wife once so he wore it almost every single day just to make the child happy. And if he ever ran out, he would go to the store to buy some more. All for him. He thought nothing could ever take that away. Boy was he wrong. Because on the 21st of April, 2010, something happened that would change him and his family forever.

It started out like any other day: Dylan was bugging Van to watch TV with him, mainly movies about princesses, Van would be working from home on her computer, and Kopa would either be playing with his son or managing grown-up stuff, like bills and cooking. "Babe, what do you want for lunch," he asked his wife who was sitting on the couch with her son who was transfixed on the screen where _The Little Mermaid _was being played as he sat at the table working through bills and other pieces of mail they received. "Well, we could make pasta but _someone _needs to eat their vegetables for the day so maybe a little salad on the side first." "Ok." Only when he looked through their pantry, he couldn't find any noodles for the pasta. Just his luck. "Babe, we're out of noodles so I'm just gonna run by Albertson's and get some. Will you and not-so-little man be okay until I get back?" "Yeah. He needs his nap anyways so might as well get that out of the way." "Okay. So long, turd-bucket," Kopa said as he ruffled the hair his son had for now and began to leave until he could hear Dylan running towards him crying and screaming, "Dada! Dada!"

He scooped up his son like a sack of potatoes and sat with him on the couch. "Now you're getting to be such a big boy! And most of the time big boys don't cry. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't ever cry but when you're older you'll understand what I'm trying to say. I'll be back before you know it, soldier, and when I do, we can go to space!" "SPACE," the three-year-old yelled in excitement as he bounced up and down on the couch. "Yeah, space, but we can only do that if you listen to Mama and go to sleep and let Dada go get some food. Can you do that?" "Ok, Dada. Come, Mama. Let's go sleep," he tried to say in his baby voice as he yanked Van by the fingers all the way to his bedroom. When he saw Van walk out of the room without a child in arm and close the door gently, he knew that the mission was successfully accomplished.

"I just put him down. He was so eager to get under his covers with his Lightning Mcqueen plush," she whispered as she strolled to him. "I tell you, Van, there's something special about that kid. He may not know it yet but he's gonna do great things and save the world someday." "Sure. And you have such a way with him. Did I tell you you were going to be a great father or did I tell you you were going to be a great father?" "Ok. You sure showed me wrong," he chuckled as he kissed his wife. "Will you be back soon?" "I'll be back before you know it. I promise." Van smiled as she pulled him in for one last kiss. "I love you." "I love you, too." And like that he stepped out the door, shut it, and that's the last she ever saw of him for 9 years.

Kopa locked the door as he made his way to his car as he checked his email on his phone. He then unlocked the door to his Silver Subaru before turning on the vehicle and started to drive away. And as he checked his rearview mirror while backing out of the driveway, he noticed something odd coming from the back of the car. He put the brakes on his car before stepping out and seeing some strange green glow emitting from the trunk. He slowly opened it to the revelation that the trunk wasn't indeed empty. The half of the strange rock was in there! But Kopa always kept it hidden in a loose floorboard in his office. And he hadn't touched it in over 3 years let alone remove the half and put it in the trunk of his car. As if the rock magically appearing in his car wasn't weird enough, the half-broken green stone in the center of the rock was glowing, which explained why the trunk was also glowing. That gem had never glowed in the entirety of being owned by Kopa. And Valerie never mentioned anything about it glowing when she and Terry owned it. So why was it suddenly gleaming just now?

_DING! _Kopa's phone seemed to have gotten some sort of notification so he yanked it out of his back pocket and saw that he received an anonymous email from an unknown user. He clicked on it and all he saw was what he remembered was an incantation Terry Herera listed on the article he read. "I call onto you, mighty great kings of the past, and beg for your power to be free at last. Take me to where I yearn, so that the truth is what I may learn," he read aloud before another strange event occurred shortly after him reading that email. The glowing rock seemingly began to levitate into thin air as the green glow from the gem became even more brighter and more blinding. And as if the day couldn't get any stranger, after the light became so bright that he couldn't see anything, the second he opened his eyes he saw that he too was floating in thin air! What looked like magic swirls began to emerge from the glowing gem and wrap around Kopa as if he was going through a magical transformation. Wait.

KOPA KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON! Things became even more clear when a portal began to open up in the ground. The same portal Kopa went through before being turned into a human and transported to their world. And now it seemed like it was happening all over again, but in reverse. "HELP! SOMEBODY! VAN! TELL DYLAN I LOVE HIM," he shouted into the unknown as he was dragged into the portal and into the same green room that looked like it was made of Jello and all while still floating. Like with what happened the last time, the walls rippled before reflecting memories of his life but as a human this time. His arrival, his early childhood and teen years, he and Vanessa's relationship, and finally the day that Dylan was born. All of that soon vanished before Kopa's body began to endure the same kind of pain it experienced throughout the last occurrence and shining light began radiating from his body, from the feet moving upwards like some sort of magic spell, only this time he knew that it was a magic spell. And he could kiss those legs and every other human feature of him goodbye because, let's just say, things were going to get a whole lot harrier.

Darkness.

His eyelids fluttered and finally let the light in as he first squinted and then unblinkingly looked around at his surroundings: valleys of grass, patches of flowers, different species of birds, gazelle bouncing around the place, and the sound of water rushing as if from a waterfall. In simpler terms, Kopa was back home. His _real _home: the Pride Lands and he knew it. But it didn't feel like his real home anymore. He knew that he had a place and a purpose to serve as a human. He now had a beautiful wife and child that he had to care for.

_Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Hold on. He then began to examine his body and what do you know? He had been turned back into a lion. But he wasn't a cub anymore. It was apparent as he approached a nearby watering hole and saw that he had grown a full-fledged mane. And not just that; he had grown a whole lot since had last been there. Kopa, now all grown up, had a golden-brown fur pelt, a white muzzle, and a dark brown nose, a light golden underbelly, as well as a large brown mane, (similar to Mufasa's shapewise). He also had an average chin and defined cheekbones, with small reddish-brown eyes that so much reminded him of his father. The adult lion began to hyperventilate and spasm on the ground like he was a fish out of water as passing animals began staring. "Is he new to the Pride Lands?" and "Is that guy okay?" was one of the many questions he could hear the bystanding animals passing back and forth to each other as a thought popped into his mind that completely cured him of his panic attack: his parents! They were here and he could get to see them again for the first time in years and explain everything….but mostly he just wanted to reconcile with his father and apologize for how he acted as a child and for how much grief and pain he caused him.

Kopa began to run in that direction with stars twinkling in his eyes but tripped on something shortly afterwards while the animals began to clear out knowing that he was okay. His head jerked down to see that the half of the rock he had last seen as a human back in the human world was in the Pride Lands with him! It had seemingly got transported back with him like it did when he was first turned into a human where Terry Herrera and Valerie found it but the complete opposite. Like everything else that day was. But where was the other piece to it? Valerie said that Terry had broken it half and only left her with this half, but never really specified what he did with it or what became of it. Slowly approaching it as if it was a bomb that could be detonated at any moment, he dug it out of the ground and began speaking to it as if it was a person. Or in this case animal. "What are you? Why'd you bring me back here? WHY DID YOU TAKE ME AWAY FROM MY FAMILY," he hissed into his small reflection in the green gem.

As he began to walk away to go try and see where his family was, he got a response out of it! "I never intended to hurt you, Kopa Garcia."

Scared shitless, Kopa jolted back around and approached the rock once again but this time with even more caution. "D-d-d-d-d-did you just say something?" The sunlight soon slowly began to vanish as clouds came out of nowhere and gathered into the sky and formed the head of a lion. Like an actual lion! How could clouds magically form a lion head?.

There wasn't much features that he could make out of the guy due to him being made of water drops and ice crystals floating in the sky, but he could tell the lion was rather elder, with like 5 ft of fur hanging from his muzzle, sort of like a beard as they called it when he was a human and a mane resembling his father's but more white and fluffy. "You need not fear me. For I am merely here to advise you." "Advise me? WHO ARE YOU?!" "Those who knew me called me Sahau. You see I am from a very long time ago. I was the very first king of these Pride Lands and I have seen unspeakable things that have now seem to crawl out of the past and into your world." "W-w-w-w-what do you mean, S-s-s-s-sahau?" "

"When the world had seemingly first come to be, I was a part of a small tribe of lions that called themselves the Others. We were pretty much an organization that practiced all kinds of craft, mainly magic. You see we came from a very far away remote island and we journeyed on an expedition to find land to settle in so we could continue to thrive and continue our work. And that's when we happened upon an area of land that we soon named the Pride Lands. It was perfect. We even made our home in this seemingly abandoned humongous rock in the middle of the land. Only, we weren't alone. The land was settled by a group of two-legged creatures called Watu. It seemed like we were going to have a problem, but after I talked with the leader of the group, he agreed to let me and my pride stay here for as long as we needed to. Such a kind soul. Being the alpha leader of the pride, I deemed myself king seeing as how the dominant Watu was the leader of _his_ group. As the years went by, the Pride Lands thrived: animals began living here, grass and plants were growing, and the Watu and the animals got along very well. And in order to show that neither the Watu nor the animals bore no ill will, the Others and I created a sort of symbol of peace and our most notable creation: a sort of flat rock with a green stone in the center called the Ukewe Disk that maintained the balance of the creatures inhabiting these Lands. Except the Disk wasn't just a symbol of peace; it was also a vessel for unimaginable power. Power that held the unity of Watu and animals together. Power that if it fell into the wrong hands, it could bend the will of others and destroy life itself. So it was hidden away. But one day, the Watu began to unhinge and become ballistic as they began to murder everything in sight. Mainly animals. Which led to the extinction of a species called Quagga. And the Disk appeared to be stolen which meant that someone was using it to corrupt them into going on a rampage. When it became too much, I prayed to the Gods to have them taken away and never to return. My wish was granted and the Watu were forever exiled and the Lands appeared to become seemingly invisible to them because they never returned. During that same time, we found the perpetrator: a lioness. One that belonged to our neighboring pride. She was sentenced to death by fire for her crimes of treason against the Pride Lands. Things became quiet afterwards. Until one day, when that same lioness appeared in the form of the very thing that killed her: fire. She began to attack everything and everyone and the Others and I couldn't seem to find a way to stop her. It looked as if she was unstoppable, especially as a malevolent fiery spirit. But good always triumphs over evil, which was proved when I conjured up a spell to trap her inside of the Disk. This time we made sure to hide it better than the last time. Then the kingdom continued on as normal for many many many years. However, that peace was disrupted when a certain cub ran away from home and found the Disk, broke it out of its hiding place, therefore releasing the spirit of the lioness committed to destroying the Pride Lands and the world as a whole!"

That was a very long and wordy story and kind of hard to understand at some points. So, humans existed alongside the animals of the Pride Lands a very long time ago but they were put under some magic spell by an evil lioness therefore having the humans banished from the kingdom which became invisible to them, and she was burned at the stake only to return as a spirit in fire but later on imprisoned in the rock that turned Kopa into a human and released when he pulled it out of the wall behind a waterfall and turned into said human? Does that sound right? Well if that isn't confusing as shit! But that actually does explain a little. If the spirit of the evil lioness was inside the rock or Disk, then when Terry Herrera found it, hypothetically say she was released and drove him to madness which explained why he became estranged from his ex-girlfriend and exhibiting strange behavior and also why his house burned down. The spirit was made of fire and what burned his house down? Anyone? Fire! And the voice! The voice that called to Kopa when he first ran away from home! The one that led him to the Disk in the first place. It must've been her. It makes sense: she called him and led him to the Disk probably knowing that he'd be vulnerable and mesmerized enough to pull it out of the wall, leading to her escape from being imprisoned. And the voice at his old house in El Paso! Kopa did hear some sort of singing coming from inside the house which led to the same house being burned down the same way Terry's did. Maybe it was the same spirit. The only thing that didn't add up is why did she go after him and Van if he didn't have the Disk with him then?

"I'm sorry, okay. I did not know anything about this stuff!" "Neither did the generations after the incident. We had a mandrill come and document our research through paintings in a cave behind what you know as Pride Rock, but after what happened, we couldn't risk having someone find the Disk and releasing the spirit, so we had the cave hidden away along with all of the history of the Watu." The blood coursing through the lion's veins went 2x faster in anticipation of what happened next and hopefully the questions Sahau could answer. But the clouds forming his head slowly began to depart, beams of sunlight shining onto Kopa like a spotlight. "Wait! Where are you going!?" "I've done everything I can do for you, Kopa. To find the answers to the questions you keep asking yourself, you first need to hide yourself along with that piece of the Disk. No doubt that spirit is going to find you and try to take it sooner or later. And as long as you're concealed and protecting the Disk with your life, the rest will inevitably fall into place, piece by piece," his sultry voice echoed throughout the valley, and in the depths of Kopa's mind as the cloudy lion disappeared, leaving Kopa alone and with more questions than answers. But the guy did seem to know what he was talking about. He was a lion made of clouds for fuck's sake of course he knew what he was talking about! So without hesitation, he gripped the piece with his mouth and ran far, far away to try and find a place to hide out just like he was instructed to do. Only he never got a chance to see his family before embarking on this mini-quest that was pretty much a life-or-death situation. As heartbroken as it was, it genuinely seemed like he had to hide the piece no matter what. "Hi, Mom and Dad," he muffled quietly as he swifted past Pride Rock and ultimately out of the Pride Lands as a whole. Except he didn't run to the villain-infested Outlands. Instead he chose a different route to a place he had always seen from a distance but never up close and personal: these mountains covered in snow. The Theluji Mountains.

The very first step the African carnivore took into the coldly white and opaque powder sent shivers down his spine as he took more careful, slower, steps. This was the first time he had been in snow for a while. It's not like you got a lot of snow in Texas or Oklahoma. But Mrs. Garcia always did like to take him to Washington in the winter. There, it looked like Elsa completely let it go every single time they went together every winter. Walking in the snow got easier the more Kopa grew a pair and just walked and forgot about how cold it was; he was on a mission. I think. "_Ok. I got this. This is easy,_" he thought to himself as he climbed on top of a boulder and onto the biggest mountain in the area. But of course some shit had to happen to make the hero's journey more difficult.

A purple lightning bolt struck a nearby dead tree, and flames the color purple, just like the fire that burned down Terry and his house, melted all the snow on it and combusted the tree until it was nothing but ash. The fire then grew bigger and bigger and from its core grew a lioness made of fire more than 30 ft tall. The legend he was told was true! That must've been the spirit of that evil lioness that turned Watu into savages a long time ago. Sahau warned him that she would find him sooner or later but why couldn't it have been later? "Well, well. Fancy meeting you here, isn't it Kopa Garcia," the entity sinisterly spoke. AND she knew his name? What the hell? "Who are you?" "Who am I? I'm just someone who wants to help. Someone who many people fear. You can call me your worst nightmare. Or Shetani if it's easier," she cunningly cackled.

"Well, _Shetani_, as humongous and conniving as you may be, you're still evil and I know why you're really here. You just want this piece of the Ukewe Disk and I'm not going to let it happen! The only way you can get it is if you pry it from my cold, dead hands you wicked, vile son of a bitch," Kopa shouted from the ground, trying to reach the giant lioness' hearing range. Let's just say it definitely worked. Her facial expressions became more angry and you could start to hear low growling escaping from her clenched teeth. He knew he screwed up big time but he didn't care. "Well, if that's what you want," Shetani roared as she raised her flamey paw and tried to strike him with it but he managed to dodge it and began to run away from the apparent demonic lioness with the Disk piece in hand. Or in this case mouth. "You can't get away from me that easy!" Shetani curled open her mouth to a mouthful of razor sharp teeth made of fire and fired what looked like a laser beam at the running feline. That continued for a long time as the chase between them vigorously ensued until Kopa reached a dead end in a nearby cave.

"I have had just about enough of you! You worthless mortal!" "Right back at you!" That really broke the evil ghost as she opened up her mouth to fire one last laser beam that looked like it was going to be the biggest one yet. Luckily, Kopa had a plan that would get him away from her. As soon as she fired the beam at him, he jumped into thin air and the laser hit the ground, cracking it to the point where when he set foot back down, it completely collapsed, sending him through the ground in what looked like some sort of tunnel. "This isn't the last you've seen of me, flesh-and-blood! We'll meet again and when we do, I'll destroy you and everything you love," the malicious voice of Shetani echoed as Kopa continued to tumble through that underground tunnel. He couldn't believe it had worked! But he had one problem: he had no idea where that tunnel led or what to expect. He just kept on falling and falling and falling and falling until his head met the stoney-hard ground with a loud thud. He took his paw and rubbed out the pain before continuing to explore the cavern that he had stumbled into. He saw what looked like crystals and stalagmites strewn all over the seemingly never ending cave before he finally found a place deep enough underground to guard the piece of the Disk and reside until the next piece of the puzzle comes up. At least that's what he was told. He lodged the half into a boulder and it sort of resembled the Sword in the Stone in a way so that no one would retrieve it easily and he sat back. Wait. What if he was discovered? Not a problem. He'd take care of any threat that came his way and since no one knew what he looked like as an adult lion, he could create a whole new identity.

So from that day for the next 9 years, he was known to himself as Sahau. Pretty much because it was the name of the guy that got him tangled in that whole mess. But he couldn't complain; it had kind of a nice ring to it. Anway, he would guard that piece stealthily and carefully every single day to make sure Shetani didn't sneak in and try to steal it or some other creature that came upon it. Food and water was a bit of a problem. It seemed like he was the only living thing down in those caves, but every once in a while a mouse or something meaty would wander its way into his stomach and satisfied his appetite and water dripped from the stalagmites, which was….something, so you could only imagine how long water breaks took. It was actually on a water break one day that fate led him to reunite with someone he thought he had lost forever. He was slowly chucking his tongue at the bead-sized water droplets provided to him by the cave when he heard the slightest noise coming from where he guarded the Disk piece. Shetani? A giraffe? A buffalo maybe? Nope. What he saw was something he hadn't seen in little over a decade. He barely recognized it until the point where it referred to itself as a "Watu." That's when his brain started to slowly piece everything together.

He slowly walked up to the creature and sniffed him down to the point where the scent was almost impossible to match to anyone else as his eyes widened with disbelief. Was it a dream? Was it reality? How did he get here? Why was he here? Questions, questions, questions. That's pretty much the only thing Kopa's brain knew how to work for the longest time. But it wasn't until he started singing a certain song towards the Watu, and the Watu singing it back in perfect harmony, was the identity of said-Watu unanimous. It became enough to the point where tears of joy were being cried as he realized the only person he could be.

"Dylan?"

_**To Be Continued in Chapter 18**_

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_**Author's Note:**_

**Hello everyone! DBROWN13 here with the latest chapter in **_**The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands. **_**Let me just start of by saying, I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so (*stops to take a deep breath) so so so so so so so sorry for not having posted a new chapter in over 6 months. It's just kinda been hard with this whole lieu of chaos going on in the world that I find it very hard to be inspired. School was also where I did my best writing and with that closed, it became even harder. But I've tried my best these past few months to give you all what you have been waiting for: the last chapter in Kopa's backstory. FINALLY! Don't get me wrong, I had so much fun coming up with and writing most of these backstory chapters, along with the help of my good friend SilverGate48 especially for this chapter, but I'm just excited to get back into the headspace of Dylan and the Lion Guard as we find out what happens when he discovers his father's not only alive, but a lion as well! Can't wait to start writing that! But to be honest, what really got me motivated to open up the document and write was when I went back and saw all the reviews you guys have left, encouraging this story and making me feel like I'm doing something right seeing as how being a writer was always my big dream growing up. SO thank you to all of you fans out there who've supported me from the very beginning to this point in time where being inspired is really hard. But again I sincerely apologize for the half-year hiatus and promise to get back to posting as much as I can and thanks and love to all of my supporters. Hope you all are safe and healthy, but with the love, family and friends we all have, we're going to pull through and get through this difficult ordeal. Together. So that's all for now. Thank you, I love you and I'll see you all in Chapter 18!**

**-DBROWN13**


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